Guilty Love
by MadFox32
Summary: *It's actually on hiatus now I swear I'll be back once You're Fine is done, no matter how cute of a new couple I can find.* A collection of romantic short stories between characters in the Ace Attorney universe. You guys choose the couples, so you may torture me as you wish. :D
1. Juniper x Apollo

Do you want to know the hardest part of writing Just a Note? Trying to be romantic without kissing, hugging, snuggling, or describing how a person's breath smells. Yet a third of my requests were all romantic. So I'm writing a new short story collection (Have you noticed that all I really write is short stories?) to meet all of your romantic needs. I've got a few rules for requesting your pairings:

1. I'll only do each pairing once. This fic is intended to include as many different pairings as possible, not 300 Phoenix/Maya requests, 300 Miles/Phoenix requests, and maybe a few Justicykes -_-

2. If you want to suggest a situation for them to be in, I'll probably work with it. Probably being the key word. (See #5.)

3. Different from Just a Note: One request per chapter, please. I actually have a life outside of fanfiction. (Ok, that's a lie, but I can pretend XP)

4. All of the stories will probably be between 1000-3000 words, unless it's crack. I'll do crack, crack is funny, but just don't expect me to dedicate an hour or more of my life to writing a romantic situation between Jean Armstrong and Charley, or Regent the Tiger and Dahlia Hawthorne. (Those are real requests I got in Just a Note, if you were wondering)

5. You see that rating there? It says "T". Not M. I don't mind getting fluffy, but there's a point where fluffy turns into me getting grounded and banned from writing :P

On that note, I hope you enjoy! I started with the most underrated couple of all time, because I felt like it. (Not all of the stories will be in first person... This just sort of happened.)

(O)

I crept back into the exploded courtroom, hoping that nobody would try to look for me. The excitement of everyone involved in the Phantom case was gratifying, but I had a job I still needed to do.

Deep down, I knew I wouldn't find what I was looking for. After all, they had already taken any strange fragments out from the rubble in order to reassemble the HAT bomb.

I didn't care.

I picked up a few rocks, tossing them aside. My back wasn't a fan of the heavy lifting, especially considering the fact that I had been in the hospital only days earlier. I stood up, attempting to kick the rubble around with my foot. I looked for the smallest hint of color, hoping that I might be able to find it. I didn't.

I walked across to the witness stand, wincing at the Phantom's blood, which still stained the ground. _A sniper attack in a court of law. _I looked up at the sky, and I could tell that several people were investigating the attempted assassination from above. I returned my gaze to the ground, looking around uselessly.

I knew that I was just being stubborn. Even if I could find it, there was no point. It was probably just garbage by now. Something in me prevented me from giving up, though, and I continued kicking rocks with my foot.

Finally, it hit something white.

I leaned down, carefully uncovering the object. It was surrounded by black, charred material, and the colorless plastic itself was warped from the heat of the courtroom explosion. Just seeing it brought a smile to my face, however, as if I was a child who had just found an Easter egg. Putting the object in my pocket, I walked outside.

I scanned the lobby, which was filled with people who were enthusiastically talking about the case (And Trucy, who was entertaining some of the bailiff with her magic tricks). I was only looking for one person, though. When I saw her, I could feel myself smiling, and my feet carried me towards her.

"Oh, hi Apollo," she said politely.

"I… I found something for you," I replied, reaching into my pocket. I pulled out the white bottle—Coldkiller X.

"Is that my cough medicine?" she asked with a soft laugh.

"Yeah… I went to go look for it," I answered sheepishly, running my hand through my spiked bangs.

"Thank you," she replied, smiling. "I don't think I'll need it anymore, though."

"Huh?"

"I only cough when I'm nervous… And I don't feel as nervous when I think of you," she said, blushing slightly. "Thinking of you makes my cough stop a lot faster than my medicine ever does." My heart skipped a beat at this, and I could feel myself blushing a little.

"Thanks, Juniper. I'm glad." _Oh gosh, I'm so awkward. I'm pretty sure I just ruined that moment. _

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile, staring into my eyes. Her eyes were a warm brown, and I found myself lost just looking into them. I blinked, attempting to snap out of the spell she was casting on me.

"It's kinda loud in here. Do you want to go outside?" She took a brief look over her shoulder to see Athena talking with a strange group of lawyers.

"Yes, I'd like that." We walked next to each other, shoulders almost brushing, and I had to fight the urge to lock my fingers with hers. _She doesn't like you back. She couldn't, not after that. If someone had accused my best friend of murder, I would have punched them in the stomach. _I felt my heart sink a little at the thought, but seeing her next to me was somewhat comforting. As soon as the door opened, the cool December air surrounded us, and I tried not to shiver. It never got too cold in L.A, but when you weren't used to it, 50 degrees could feel like you were in the North Pole. We walked a ways to a bench, where we sat down together.

"It's a lot quieter out here," I commented. She nodded. I had expected her to be shivering in the cold, considering her small figure, but I remembered vaguely that she lived up in the mountains, and she was probably tougher than she seemed.

"Thank you, Apollo."

"Huh?"

"I thought it was really brave what you did in there, with Athena."

"You mean accusing her of murder?"

"You wanted to make sure that your friends were worth trusting. I think it shows that you really do care about her, in your own way." My bracelet felt a bit tight, and I could tell why—her eyes had flashed to the side while she was talking. I briefly wondered why she seemed uncomfortable with what she was saying, and when I realized why, I smiled.

"Some people don't need to be tested," I said gently. "Athena should have been one of those."

"Do you trust me?" She asked bluntly, her sweet, innocent eyes staring into mine longingly.

"Yeah," I replied softly, smiling. A breeze kicked up, and it blew my bangs into my face, which Juniper swept aside with a small hand. My heart was beating a thousand times a second as those eyes met mine again, warm and sweet, and almost glittering. Suddenly, she shivered because of the cool breeze, and my arm stretched instinctively around her shoulder. When I realized what I had done, I jerked it away in the most awkward way imaginable. She giggled.

"It's all right, your arm was warming me up." I hesitantly put it back around her shoulder, squeezing her against me slightly. She smiled, looking into my eyes. I could feel my heart beating, and I hoped she didn't notice. If she did, she didn't say anything.

"Thanks for being here for me, even when I messed up like that…" I trailed off as her smile disappeared, leaving a serious expression.

"I never considered leaving," she replied softly. Her sweet voice blended with the noises of the outdoors, innocent, soft, and pure. I could feel myself blushing when I evaluated the meaning of her words. _Maybe she does like me after all. _Her gaze broke from mine, and she rested her head on my shoulder, her hat falling to the ground. The warmth of her body contrasted against the cool winter air, and I pulled her tighter with my arm, wanting her to be closer. I could feel her heartbeat on my neck, and it was just as fast as mine. _She's nervous, too. _I could feel her soft breath across my throat as she inhaled and exhaled, cold and warm air dancing across my skin. I closed my eyes, and took in the moment. Something in me wanted more, but I didn't know how to ask for it, so I sat on the bench, content just to have her so close.

Her head lifted off my shoulder, and I attempted to protest, when I felt something smooth and wet on my cheek. _Did she just kiss me? _Looking at her face, she was blushing, so I assumed as much. I wasn't quite sure what came over me, but I pressed my hand behind her head gently, bringing her lips to mine. I felt her hesitate at first, but she gave in, and her soft lips met mine. Her breath tasted like oranges, I noticed, and I wanted to laugh, but I knew it would ruin the moment. _Typical Juniper. _

It only lasted a few seconds, but when we broke apart, we were both smiling. Looking down at the bench, I laid my hand on top of hers, grasping her fingers beneath mine. That look in her eyes, and the feeling of her hand, and my heart beating softly and quickly inside my chest—It was perfect.

At least, it was perfect until I heard something from behind us. We turned around to find two figures hiding behind a bush. "Th-thena?"

Athena and Trucy stumbled out from behind the bush, grinning. "That was the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Athena exclaimed. "I told you it would happen, Junie!" Juniper's usually pale face filled with a rosy pink color, which, in my opinion, made her look even more beautiful.

"Polly! You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" Trucy ran up to me with an annoying grin. I looked at Juniper, blushing as much as her, if not more.

"I guess I do, don't I?" I responded with a slight smile. She smiled, too.

"I guess I should have known, though, considering what she was saying about you at her trial," Trucy continued. "What was it? Apollo's like the sun, bright and warm! He's so brave, and when I'm around him, I feel brave too!" Both Trucy and Athena began cracking up, and I turned to Juniper, whose face was definitely more red than it had been before.

"Did you really say that?" I asked.

"S-something like it…" she stuttered out, making me laugh.

"So, if you guys are still hungry after eating each other's faces, we were going to go to Eldoon's." _Trucy is going to get it later. _Juniper made some sort of surprised squeak.

"I wanted to spend a little more time with Juniper. We'll catch up later." _Just don't act embarrassed, and they'll leave you alone. _Sure enough, they did, whispering and giggling to each other as they walked.

"Sorry about that…" Juniper said.

"It wasn't your fault," I laughed.

"We should probably go to Eldoon's, before people start wondering where we ran off to," she mused, blushing. I agreed, knowing that Mr. Wright would definitely want revenge on me after suggesting that he should pay for everyone's noodles.

"Let's go."

I picked up her hat from off the ground, and placed it on her head. We walked to Eldoon's hand in hand.


	2. Klavier x Ema

Jeez, 17 requests and I'm only one chapter in. And a third of them were for Feenris XP

Well, my rules have already been broken. Not that I wasn't expecting it lol. **I want you guys to calm yourselves from requesting** because I want to keep my list balanced, so I don't have to reorganize it all the time. If you did request more, I'm not mad or anything (No pun intended) but I'd ask that you refrain from requesting for a few days**. Don't feel bad**, I know how it is when someone offers to write a story with all of your OTPs. I'm a rabid fangirl myself XD

**I also have a new rule. Even crack pairings have to be POSSIBLE.** By that, Dahlia is dead before AJ and Dual Destinies, so I'm not going to write Dahlia/Apollo or anything silly and nightmarish like that. (And NO. I am not pairing 20 year old Dahlia with 9 year old orphan Apollo!) Also, you probably noticed that I'm not doing a daily story as I did with Just a Note. (Ain't nobody got time fo dat). On Tuesdays and Thursdays I probably won't post, because I have a lot of stuff I do on those days XP

Well, on a less disturbing note, here's one of my personal favorite pairings, Klema :)

(O)

"Herr Forehead?"

"What?"

"Try to avoid the fraulein detective if you can. She's in a rather grumpy mood today, ja?" Apollo met Klavier's gaze with the same smirk that he did when he presented crucial evidence. _This can't be good._

"You know, you've been telling me that a lot lately. If you want her to yourself, you could just ask."

"Are you-! Herr Forehead, I can assure you that I have no interest in the fraulein detective."

"All right, I'll back off, if you want her that bad." Apollo walked away laughing, holding his bracelet with one hand. _Why does he even wear such a big bracelet? It doesn't make his finger pointing look any more intimidating, if that's what he thinks._

Klavier grunted. _Me and the fraulein? That's completely illogical. _He knew Ema would think the same. Right? She was always throwing her snacks at him, after all, and threatening to inject him with chemicals that he had never heard of. He realized that he needed a case file from said detective, and wondered if he could call back Herr Forehead and ask him to retrieve it. _Nein… He'll read through them, and use them to beat me somehow. _He knew the defendant was guilty, but he also knew that if Apollo was on the case, he was probably wrong. _He has a knack for choosing innocent defendants._

Bracing himself, he approached Ema, expecting chocolate to be launched at him. She wore a grumpy look on her face as usual, but there was something different about it. "Fraulein, I need the case file."

"Which one?"

"The one I asked you for ten minutes ago? With the results of the fingerprint test on the murder weapon? You didn't forget already, ja?"

"Oh. I have it right here." _She's not being completely hostile. Achtung, there's something wrong with that._

"Are you all right, fraulein?"

"Yes."

"I've been here for a full minute, and you haven't thrown anything at me, or even called me a 'fop'. Achtung, you don't even have your snacks."

"I'm fine," she growled. "I just wasn't hungry, **fop**. Now take your case file and leave, please." _She said please? This can't be good._

"Fraulein, I won't leave until you tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong!" Her voice cracked, giving her away, if her strange demeanor hadn't already. "Just go away."

"I don't like seeing my subordinates down, ja?" Uh oh. Subordinate probably wasn't the best word choice, seeing as her eye twitched after the word came out.

"Then leave me alone."

"Please, fraulein?" He flashed his best smile, one that normally could get him anything he wanted, especially from a fraulein. Ema, however, was no ordinary fraulein.

"Don't you have better things to be doing than fishing for information that doesn't exist? Like looking at that case file?"

"Nein. I can't focus when a fraulein's upset." She let out an exasperated huff.

"I'm not one of your fangirls that you have to take care of, you condescending, glimmerous fop!"

"Condescending? Ach, that's a new one. I'm not here to babysit you, if you think that's what I'm after." He paused, startled by the vicious gaze that was being directed his way. "You're significantly more capable than one of my fangirls."

"Then why don't you leave, and let me take care of myself?"

"Despite what you may think, I do care about people," he replied softly.

"If you really cared about me, you would leave me alone," she retorted.

"If that's what you want, I will. But before I go, is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" he asked gently, contrasting with her sharp attitude. "It doesn't seem like you have any Snackoos with you… There's a bored prosecutor here who would be more than happy to buy some for you, ja?" Her eyes filled with a mixture of shock, and something else.

"You'd do that?" Realizing how sappy she sounded, she added a quick "fop" onto the end, but it didn't quite work as she had wanted it to.

"Of course, fraulein. Now focus on the crime scene, ja?" She seemed to wince at this, but she nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, he had returned with three bags of chocolate snacks. He had bought four, but he wanted some for himself, knowing that they were one of the very few things that Ema actually liked.

"Fraulein? I brought your snacks," he called. Ema approached him hesitantly.

"I… I'm sorry."

"What?!" Klavier didn't know that Ema was capable of uttering those words.

"I was having a pretty awful day, and I guess I sort of took it out on you. You may be a glimmerous fop, but that's no excuse to act like a complete jerk to you." Klavier pushed a bag of snacks in her direction, which she accepted hesitantly, and tore into immediately.

"If it would help, I'm here to listen." He smiled genuinely, and Ema stopped munching to scrutinize his expression in an attempt to figure out what stunt he was trying to pull.

"All right, but not over here." She looked around the crime scene, a small playground for children. There was a bench a distance away, and she headed off in that direction. _Note to self: The way to this fraulein's heart is through food._

As they were walking, the edge of Ema's lab coat managed to get caught on a bush. "Shi-oot! Shoot." Klavier laughed at her sad attempt to avoid cursing. The corner of Ema's coat had ripped quite significantly, to her dismay. She took it off, bundling it into a ball, and tucking it under her arm. The lab coat normally hid her body quite well, and Klavier was somewhat surprised by what he saw. _How do you manage to stay so fit when you eat so much?! _A Snackoo promptly hit him in the face, and he realized that he had accidentally said that out loud.

"You make me run around all the time, fop," she growled.

"Sorry, my internal dialogue escaped me, ja?"

"You're lucky most of my internal dialogue doesn't make it out of my mouth," she retorted. He agreed. The two of them finally reached the bench, and they sat down.

"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"That's why I'm here, isn't it?" she gave him an annoyed look. "Well… You know how I'm always doing forensics on the job?"

"Ja. It's been quite helpful in some investigations." The look she gave him was priceless. She almost seemed touched.

"W-well, I've always wanted to be a forensic scientist. I got a degree for it overseas, and when I came to L.A., they wouldn't let me be a forensic scientist, and they stuck me into the detective division. I was really mad until I realized that detectives were the first ones on the scene-" her hand went up to the glasses on her head—"and they have complete access to the crime scene before the forensics team does."

"That can't be legal."

"Oh, it's not." _She's brave to say that to a prosecutor, ja? _"Which is why I got in big trouble this morning."

"That can't be good."

"I was on the site first, and I wanted to try and fingerprint some of the playground. I knew that we didn't really have any fingerprint data yet, but I knew that it would be somewhat suspicious if I could find some adult fingerprints. Well… I ended up spilling fingerprint powder everywhere…" she winced. "And some of it got on the body."

"You mean, the victim's body?!"

"Yeah… Well, they said that was definitely going to mess with the autopsy report, since aluminum powder sticks to blood, and is really hard to get off."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah… So the head of the forensics team talked to me personally, and told me that I should leave the forensics work to the forensics team, because I was clearly incapable of even trivial tasks such as fingerprinting." Her eyes looked a bit watery as she choked out those last words. "Pretty much, I doubt that I'm going to get on the forensics team any time soon, and if I do any more scientific investigations, I'll be fired." It was evident that she was trying not to cry, and Klavier didn't like this very much.

"Fraulein…" she glared at him. "Ema. I'm your boss, you know. If they wanted to get you fired, they would only be able to send a complaint to me." She gasped. "Also, I'm in charge of the investigations… And I think you were onto something with your scientific investigation, ja?"

"You mean… You would…" She was clearly beginning to realize the implications of what he was saying.

"Ja, fingerprint to your heart's content." He grinned as Ema's expression lit up like the sun, her eyes glittering with excitement.

"Prosecutor Gavin… Thank you!" She probably would have hugged him if he wasn't her glimmerous fop of a boss. _She's actually quite cute when she's excited. _He pushed away that thought.

"If you find anything, I'll be sure to rub it in to Herr Scientist, ja?" Ema practically leapt off of the bench, heading for the playground excitedly. She looked like a four-year-old, the way she was heading towards the slide. Klavier found himself watching her, thoroughly amused. She had left her torn lab coat next to him on the bench, and he couldn't help but notice how thin she looked without it. He heard a buzz in his pocket, and he pulled out his phone.

_Can you get your subordinate off of the crime scene? She'll completely destroy it again._

_**Nein. She's onto something.**_

_But she completely covered the victim's body in aluminum powder earlier!_

_**It's good they moved the body then, ja? Stop bothering her. Everyone makes mistakes.**_

_Most mistakes don't involve ruining an autopsy report._

_**She was just excited, ja? I won't change my mind, I'm allowing her on the crime scene. Give her the fingerprint data, if you have it. I think she'll need it. **_

He was pleased to find that he didn't receive another text. He watched, extremely amused, as Herr Jerk was forced to hand the papers over to Ema, who looked back at Klavier in complete surprise. He just grinned at her. After five minutes of dumping powder on everything in sight, she returned, clearly excited.

"The defendant's fingerprints are all over the slide, and a luminol test revealed a large amount of blood running down it, too!"

"The victim's body was found at the bottom of the slide, ja?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks, fr-Ema. I think I'll be able to beat Herr Forehead in court with this information."

"No you won't," she retorted with a smirk.

"Ach, I appreciate your confidence."

"Thank you, Prosecutor Gavin. It really means a lot to me that you let me do this."

"I do recall you saying that there's no need for titles after you've shared a bottle of fingerprinting powder?"

"You haven't fingerprinted anything yet," she replied with a smirk. "You wouldn't want to get aluminum powder all over your foppish clothes, would you?"

"Who knows, it could prove interesting. How do you do it?" She looked at him, somewhat surprised.

"I mean, you need a fingerprint first."

"There's some on this bench, ja?"

"Only a fop would look for his own fingerprints."

"Ach, I can learn with them, can't I?" She laughed.

"Fine. You just sprinkle the aluminum powder where you think the print would be, and blow it off. The powder will stick to the oil that came off of your finger." He dusted the powder over a large section of the bench. "That was a bit overkill."

"Sorry, I haven't done this before, ja?" He proceeded to blow it off, revealing a fingerprint. Ema took out a strange looking scanner, and the fingerprint he had just dusted appeared on the screen.

"Wait a minute…" she paused, looking at the fingerprint.

"It's not mine. Is that yours?"

"I recognize this print from somewhere." She looked through her print data, and tried to match up the fingerprint. "This is the victim's!"

"What?!" he gasped. "I wonder if we could find the defendant's prints here, too." Ema proceeded to dust the other half of the bench with the powder, quickly blowing it off. "Hmm… This one's mine, I can tell already… Oh!" she used her scanner to take a picture of a fingerprint. "Klavier, look! This belongs to the defendant, all right!" He silently celebrated the use of his first name, before thinking of the weight of the rest of her words.

"We couldn't find a connection between the defendant and the victim… This proves that they talked before the murder, ja?"

"Yeah!" She grinned excitedly.

"You've been more helpful to me today than the entire forensics team put together, ja?" She met his eyes eagerly, clearly touched, in her own weird way.

"Thank you." Her deep green eyes met his, and he found himself completely transfixed. Somehow, the weight of those two words seemed a lot greater than they usually were. He heard them uttered by many fangirls, who would chirp excitedly as they gawked over his signature… But it felt nice to be appreciated for who he really was, not as an overrated rock god, but as a real person. _The only people who seem to think of me as more than that is Herr Forehead and Ema… And only one of those is a sexy fraulein. _

"You're welcome." Neither of them would break from each other's gaze, and Klavier found his heart beating faster than usual. It had been years since he felt so nervous about being with a girl. He felt his face moving towards hers subconsciously, and their lips met. _She is going to murder me. _To his complete surprise, she kissed him back, after a moment of hesitation. He brought a hand up to her head, running his hands through her hair, which was surprisingly soft. He pressed their faces together, and they broke apart, gasping. Ema's face was cherry red, and he laughed.

"What did I just do?" she moaned. Personally, Klavier wasn't complaining. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a certain defense attorney smirking at him from a distance. _Why is he always right?! _

However, as he leaned in for another kiss, he realized that he really didn't care.


	3. Iris x Phoenix

I can't get over how nice you guys are to me in your reviews. Thank you all :D

I also can't get over how much you guys like Phoenix/Iris. I got what, 4 requests for it? I'm too lazy to check. Well, someone suggested a marriage fic, and I guess not all of these stories can be first kiss scenarios (those are my favorites), so sure. Here's your Phoenix/Iris marriage fic for your enjoyment.

I did do 2 stories today, because I was really bored during school and I neglected my homework lol. It's to make up for yesterday, I guess.

(O)

Phoenix looked at himself in the mirror. Trucy had made an attempt to comb his spikes down, but they didn't quite cooperate, so they stuck out in his typical style. His black suit matched the color of his hair, and his blue tie kept his favorite color present in his attire.

"Daddy, how do I look?" Trucy looked at him with a grin. Today, she had replaced her cape and top hat with a navy blue dress, and she had curled her hair.

"You look beautiful."

"Can I wear lipstick? Please?" she asked eagerly.

"Can I play the piano?"

"You can play… Just not well," Trucy growled.

"Then you can put on lipstick… Just not well."

"Please, Daddy?" She looked at him with those darned puppy eyes. "Today's special."

"Argh, fine." His daughter looked back up at him with glittering eyes, and practically ran to a dressing room. "But not red! Or anything dark!"

"Daddy!" she whined. He gave her a stern look, and she stomped away grumpily.

Trucy looked so beautiful… He wondered what his own bride would look like, coming down the aisle. Iris always looked gorgeous to him, and he couldn't imagine what she would look like with makeup, a wedding gown, and whatever else they were doing to her in the other dressing room. Looking in the mirror, he found himself to be incredibly plain. The only thing noticeable about his appearance was his gravity-defying hair. _I don't deserve her. But I love her._

"Wright?" Jeez, it looked weird to see Edgeworth without ruffles. His best man stood across the room wearing a black suit much like his, but with a red tie. "It's time to go, the ceremony's starting."

"All right." The two walked together to the back door of the sanctuary, where some familiar faces (well, more like back of the heads) awaited him. The bridesmaids lined up—Maya, the maid of honor, Pearls, Athena, and Trucy —and the bridegrooms—Edgeworth, the best man, Gumshoe, Apollo, and Larry. They all smiled at Phoenix, who was sweating more than he had in his last case. _Why am I so nervous? _They all walked down the aisle in pairs, and eventually, he was told that it was his turn. It felt strange, walking down the aisle alone. Most people would have walked down with their parents, but his mother wasn't able to come to the wedding due to medical problems. Everyone stared at him, and he felt self-conscious. Since Iris lived in a faraway temple, the room was mostly filled with people that he had known throughout the years, from Simon Blackquill to… _Is that Jean Armstrong? I don't think he was invited… Note to self: Reprimand Maya for this later. _He approached the front, and turned around to face the door, anxiously waiting to see his bride. It felt strange to go the entire day without being able to see her. Finally, she came through a door, escorted by Sister Bikini, who seemed to love the attention she was getting from everyone in the room.

Iris looked beautiful, to say the very least. Her hair had been curled, and bounced like black springs as she walked. A veil (and not one for warding demons) covered her head, making her face stand out. Her dress was beautiful, flowing white fabric just long enough to touch the floor. The most beautiful part of her had to be her face, though. She looked just like usual, makeup being almost useless in improving her already flawless appearance. As she approached him with a brilliant, shy smile, he found himself transfixed. _This is the woman I've been in love with for more than ten years. _

Whoever had decided that Sister Bikini was to give the address was a complete idiot with a bad sense of humor, Phoenix decided. _It was probably Larry, wasn't it? _He tuned out her painful words as he focused on the beautiful girl next to him… The one that he was going to marry.

He had to have been standing there for fifteen minutes, but it only felt like one. At some point, he heard Sister Bikini begin saying the vows, "Phoenix Wright, do you take Iris Hawthorne to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?" He knew that he was supposed to say 'I do', but he knew that as soon as he said them, his life would be changed forever. Looking at Iris once more, he realized that was the best thing that he could possibly ask for.

"I do." As soon as he said the words, something in him stirred, and his nervousness left. _I do. _

"Iris Hawthorne, do you take Phoenix Wright to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"

"I do." She sounded so confident, her quiet voice replaced by a brave one.

"Then I pronounce you husband and wife!" she exclaimed. "Phoenix, you may kiss the bride."

He looked into her eyes and smiled. They brought their lips together, and he felt as if he was dreaming, the world around him completely surreal. When they broke apart, everyone cheered, although Phoenix didn't want the moment to end. He looked at her in the eyes. "Iris Wright." She smiled at this.

"I like it," she said softly. Everyone around them had started to leave when a dark figure slammed into Iris.

"Mommy!" Trucy exclaimed, hugging her around the waist. Iris looked at her lovingly, and Phoenix knew that she had already been part of the family for some time now. Today was just making it official. "It took you long enough, Daddy!" she laughed.

"I know. I just had to make sure I'd found the perfect one." He looked at Iris. "I finally did."

"Aww!" Trucy gawked. Phoenix turned to look at his daughter—no, their daughter—and smiled. Then, he realized something.

"Trucy, what did I say about wearing red lipstick?"

"Not to?" she grinned. "Oh come on, it's a special day." Iris laughed.

"It is special, isn't it?" she mused. The whole bridal party arrived, deciding to join them on the stage, as untraditional as it was.

"Mr. Nick!" Pearls called. "I guess this means that Maya's never going to be your special someone," she giggled.

"Pearls! That was never gonna happen!" Maya retorted. "Anyways, congrats, Nick! And Mrs. Wright, too!" Iris blushed.

"Ah! Boss, I've never seen your heart full of so much joy!" Athena said with a grin.

"Yo, Nick! Way to get a hot one!" Larry called.

"Hey, pal! Congrats!"

Phoenix found himself completely overwhelmed by the number of people, and he assumed that Iris was, too. "Do you want to have a second alone?" he asked.

"Yes, I'd like that," she replied with a shy smile.

The two walked out of the room hand in hand, and ducked into a dressing room.

"Thank you," she said.

"No, thank you," he replied. He looked into her eyes, which were glittering with joy. They closed as their lips came together, growing deeper and deeper as the seconds passed, and they only broke apart when they had to breathe again.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," he agreed.

He had never been so happy in his life.

A/N: Sorry if I messed up some wedding detail, I've only gone to 2 of them in my entire life, and I'm not into sappy romance movies. My information mostly came from Google XD


	4. Apollo x Athena

I wrote some Justicykes, so you can stop requesting it now lol. I'm trying to go in order of popularity (I made a tally chart go me!) so this pairing was pretty much at the top of my list. (If you'd like to  
squabble among yourselves, I've got a 3-way tie between Phoenix/Maya, Apollo/Ema, and Athena/Simon right now in terms of tallies). I've gotten way too many requests (2 of them) for my NOtp, unfortunately, so I might have to actually do that one soon, too… -_-

Well. I guess you actually want to read the fluff instead of my endless blabbering. So enjoy! :D

(O)

Athena could still taste the salt in her mouth after eating at Eldoons (not that she was complaining). There had been something of a party there, that lasted so long that Guy Eldoon packed up his stand and went elsewhere to sell his noodles, because everyone was already stuffed. Most of the people involved with the Phantom case were there to celebrate that it was over, and that everyone could get on with their lives in peace. Athena had gotten everything she possibly could have wanted out of that case—Simon's freedom, closure after her mother's death, an innocent verdict, a restored relationship with Apollo… _Wait. Where is Apollo? He was here earlier._ She saw her boss a small distance away, and she approached him.

"Hey, do you know where Apollo is?"

"I think he went home already."

"It's only 7:00!" she exclaimed. "Can't he stay a little longer?"

"It's been a long day," he mentor pointed out.

"I guess." She turned around, unable to keep her mind off of the attorney. _He's probably devastated because of Clay._ The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. _Grieving alone can contribute to __depression, right? I hope he's okay_. The more she tried to forget about him, the more she could picture him crying in a corner of his apartment.

_I should check on him.__  
__No, he wouldn't want that, he left for a reason, after all.__  
__But everything I learned about psychology is telling me that he __shouldn't be alone!_

She realized that she wasn't going to be able to stop thinking about him until she figured out how he was doing, so she reluctantly left the party without a word. She didn't want to explain that she suspected that her friend was upset, after all. She knew that Apollo lived relatively close, and she pulled out her phone to check. She went through some old texts, remembering that Apollo had texted her his address once. _The apartment on 4999 Aldreay Street, room 204.__  
_  
Athena walked, enjoying how quiet the sidewalk was as compared with the hustle and bustle of the day. The sun had almost set, and she knew she should hurry up, because a teenage girl was less than safe walking around L.A. in the dark. The December air was a bit chilly, and she shivered, her clothes far from being appropriate for the winter cold.

It didn't take long to reach his apartment. _4999? I get the feeling that would bug someone as OCD as Apollo. _She entered the building, happy to be out of the cold. She got into the elevator, going up to the second floor. She walked out, and up to door 204. She could hear music coming out of it, although her sensitive hearing probably meant that nobody else could. A piano played soft, sweet chords. _Music's a great way to cope. _A voice came in, and Athena felt bombarded by the levels of sadness behind it. She immediately recognized the voice as Apollo's. _Since when could Apollo sing?! _

He apparently could, and quite well. Athena sat on the floor, back against the door, so that she could listen. She found herself tearing up, even though she couldn't make out the words. The sadness behind Apollo's voice was staggering, and the sound of the music was beautiful. The piano chords were quite simple, as if he was only just learning to play, but they amplified his voice. She had never considered this side of Apollo before—rather than the bold, confident aura he normally had, this was gentle and filled with emotion. The song ended, and she remembered why she came, and she stood up to knock on the door. _Wait! If I knock right away, he'll know I was listening the whole time! _Knowing Apollo, he would be pretty embarrassed to find that Athena had been listening in.

She could hear the shuffling of papers in his apartment, and she assumed that he was putting away his music. The shuffling stopped, and Athena tried to figure out what he was doing that was completely silent. After five minutes of waiting in the silence, Athena stood up, and knocked softly on the door.

"Hello?" Apollo called, muffled. He seemed surprised that anyone had come, Athena noted. "Who is it?"

"It's Athena."

"O-oh, I… Er… Give me a minute." She could hear a faucet turn on, and she assumed that he was washing his face. _He must have been crying. _He opened the door, face slightly damp and eyes slightly pink, confirming her theory. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were all right," she replied.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't make me take out Widget on you." Athena could hear the discord in his voice. He winced, clearly aware of this. "Can I come in?"

"I guess." He stepped back, inviting her into the small living space. It wasn't much, probably because he only went there to sleep, but it had a nice, homey feel to it. Athena saw a small keyboard in the corner of the room.

"Oh, you play the piano?" she asked, trying to remain as serious as possible. He blushed.

"N-not really… It… I just got it. It was Clay's," he stammered, looking both embarrassed and sad.

"O-oh, I'm sorry…" _Athena! What was that?!_

"No, it's fine, you didn't know." He looked around the room. "You want to sit down?"

"Oh, yeah." _Oh man, this is awkward. _

"_SO AWKWARD." _Widget blurted out.

"W-Widget!" Athena blushed, and Apollo just laughed. It was nice to see him smile, after all he'd gone through.

"That thing should really have a mute button," he said with a smirk.

"I think you need a mute button," Athena retorted. Apollo laughed.

"So, are you going to sit down, or not?"

"Oh, right." She plopped down onto a couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. Apollo hesitantly sat next to her, leaving a foot of space in between them.

"So… Um… What do you want to do, exactly?"

"It doesn't matter… I just wanted to make sure that you knew that you weren't alone." Apollo seemed stunned by this.

"Thanks…" A wave of sadness and… _Shock? _came over her.

"You seem surprised about that."

"Yeah… I guess I've always felt like people don't stick around for long." His eyes reflected the hurt in his heart, and Athena looked into them, asking for him to continue. He lifted his head and stared at the ceiling. "When I was a kid, I was left at an orphanage by my parents. Friends came and went, because they were getting adopted… But nobody really wanted me, I guess. I met Clay at school. He was an ordinary kid, and he was my only friend for a long time." He closed his eyes painfully before continuing. "Eventually, I went on to college, and I didn't get to see Clay as much, because he was trying to become an astronaut. Then I finally graduated, and I joined Gavin law offices.

"You were a defense attorney, right?"

"Yeah…? Oh, you think I'm talking about Prosecutor Gavin. His older brother was a defense attorney." _Was? This can't be good. _"Well, I worked under Kristoph Gavin for a little while, as his protégé. Then, I finally got a case, and the defendant was Mr. Wright."

"You defended Mr. Wright?!"

"More like he defended himself, while trying to confuse me as much as possible." Athena laughed at this. "Well, I didn't know why Mr. Wright would choose to have me as his defense… Mr. Gavin was a close friend of his, and the best defense attorney in town. As it turned out… He was the real killer."

"No way!"

"Yeah. Anyways, he was arrested, and after the trial… Something happened, and I was basically wandering the streets for a job for two months."

"Wait. 'Something happened'?"

"Yeah. It's better that you don't know about it, really. It was… Never mind."

"If you won't tell me, I'll figure out."

"How are you planning on doing that?" He looked at her with an unimpressed smirk, and Athena responded by turning on Widget. "Hey! That's not fair!"

"It's completely fair. Now, will you tell me what happened after the trial?"

"Kristoph was arrested, and Mr. Wright was declared Not Guilty. After the trial, I was out of a job for two months."

Athena looked at Widget's screen. "Oh! I wasn't expecting that." Apollo winced. "Overwhelming… Anger."

"Please, Athena. I… This isn't the time." Apollo looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"I will. Can you at least tell me the gist of why you were mad?" With a click of the finger, Widget turned off.

"Mr. Wright… Did something that I didn't like. Is that good enough?"

"Yeah." It really wasn't, but she wasn't here to get information, she was here to help Apollo. _Even though getting whatever happened off of his chest would probably be a good thing for him. _

"_No," _Widget beeped. Athena blushed, and Apollo grinned.

"Thanks for the honesty. But yeah… I was so mad at Mr. Wright, that I refused to see him for 2 months… Clay convinced me not to give up on being a lawyer, though, and eventually, I realized that I was going to have to go to Mr. Wright if I wanted to achieve my dream. Me and Trucy worked on a few cases… And then came that awful case." He shuddered slightly. "Kristoph had tried to kill someone 7 years prior… I don't know. Somewhere in the back of my head, I still believed that Kristoph was a good person, and that maybe he had seen Zak hit Olga over the head and did the same to him out of anger…" He wasn't making sense, but Athena kept nodding her head, pretending that she was following him. "But that case proved that the entire time I knew Kristoph, he was only using me to hurt Mr. Wright in any way possible. He was the reason that Mr. Wright was stripped of his attorney badge…"

"You cared about him, didn't you?"

"Kristoph? I'm not going to lie, he was my mentor… I always had looked up to him. Today, I think he got to me…"

"What do you mean?"

"I could feel his presence over me the entire time I was accusing you… I even said that 'evidence is everything in a court of law'! That same quote that hurt so many people a year ago!" He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get a hold of himself. "He didn't believe in believing, I guess. He thought that a lawyer's job was just to present evidence, and the unbiased truth would come out that way… And there was so much evidence against you…" He looked like he was going to cry. "I should have believed in you, not some serial killer on death row!"

"Apollo… It's okay." _His parents are gone. Clay's gone. Mr. Wright isn't who he thought he was. Kristoph's gone. Detective Fulbright's gone. Even Trucy was kidnapped for a while. _"You aren't alone." _I'm not gone. _Apollo looked up at her, and a tear slipped down his face.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you leave, like everybody else? If someone accused me of murder, I wouldn't be going over to their house later that day to see how they were doing."

"I know your heart," she replied. "You didn't accuse me because you hated me… You accused me because you were willing to sacrifice everything in order to find the truth."

"But it wasn't the truth. I sacrificed everything because I didn't trust you."

"I'm glad you accused me."

"Wh-what? Why?"

"It's like you said—you needed to face your doubts head on. If I had gotten out of that trial today without you accusing me, you still wouldn't trust me right now, would you? And it wouldn't just be you, either… Nobody in that crowd trusted me, Apollo, I could feel it. Everyone would have assumed that I was guilty, and I pulled out a get out of jail free card or something. You proved to everyone—including yourself—that I can be trusted… And there's nothing that I needed more."

"So I sort of forced everyone to evaluate who you were, and you passed the test?"

"Yeah. You never get mad at a teacher for handing out a test that you know you'll ace, do you? It'll only bring up your grade." Apollo opened his mouth hesitantly, and Athena interrupted him. "Apollo, ever since I joined the agency, you were there to teach me. I don't care that you gave out a really difficult final exam." Another tear slipped down his cheek, and Athena brushed it away with her thumb.

"The trial… err, test… wasn't over anything that I taught you, though. It was about who you were, not how good you were at finding people innocent of murder."

"That trial was about finding the truth. And that's all that you taught me, from the very beginning. Your heart was intent on figuring out who I really was."

"I think I've figured you out, sort of," he replied, smiling slightly. "It definitely took a while."

"What are the results of your investigation?"

"You're extremely transparent in your emotions, and your emotions are completely genuine… And a bit over the top, too, most of the time."

"Hey!"

"Thanks for the evidence. Anyways, no matter how you feel, you always care about people. Even when we had cornered the phantom, I could tell that you still cared about him, in a weird way. I wanted to hit him in a brick, after all you did, but you seemed as if you wanted him to find who he was again. I talked with Mr. Starbuck earlier, too, about how you managed to feel happy for him while you were being dragged off to jail…" He smiled.

"Apollo…"

"And no matter who a person is, or what they've done to you, you'll always love them anyways."

"You better not be throwing yourself into the same category as the Phantom, buster! Apollo, it's true I'm pretty forgiving, but I don't like you just because I'm a nice person. Do you see me visiting the Phantom at the hospital? No. Apollo, you made one mistake, that I don't even consider as a mistake. Besides that, you're the nicest guy I've ever known. You do what you think is right, no matter what the cost. You cheer me up when I'm nervous. You give me enough advice to help me do well, but you let me figure out some things on my own. Apollo, I couldn't ask for you to be a better teacher, or a better friend."

Apollo seemed encouraged, until she said her last words. For some reason, he seemed uncomfortable, and he twisted his bracelet around his wrist.

"C-could you say that last part again?" _His heart is so full of fear. _

"I couldn't ask for you to be a better teacher, or a better friend."

"I knew it," he muttered under his breath.

"Hmm? I-I'm confused."

"No… It's okay." His voice was filled with sadness and fear. "It's not your fault."

"Apollo! What's going on?"

"As soon as you said 'friend', you flicked your earring a little."

"Y-you think I would lie? Apollo, you're the most amazing friend imaginable. I'm dead serious."

"Ngh… My bracelet didn't react to that one. But why?" He looked at her, clearly confused. "I'm an amazing friend, but I could be better?"

"Huh?"

"That's basically what you just said…" he muttered.

And then, every confused thought in Athena's head collided into one: _I have a crush on Apollo. _She could feel her face flushing with the realization, and she knew that Apollo's perfect eyesight would catch it—

"Hey Athena, you look pretty warm over there. You need a glass of water?" he asked. She was about to refuse, but she got an idea. A wonderfully horrible idea.

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."

"All right, I'll be right back." As soon as he was out of sight, Athena pulled out Widget. _Time to check the instant replay! _She looked at Apollo's statement.

**Hey Athena, you look pretty warm over there. **

She would have expected a bit of shock, but there was an overwhelming emotion that took it over—joy. And the only picture that came up was her own. _He likes me back. _

She quickly shut off Widget as Apollo walked back into the room with a glass of water. "Here you go."

"Thanks." _Oh, by the way, I like you, and I know you like me back, so how does dinner tomorrow sound? _If only it were so easy to say out loud. She took the water out of his hands, drinking most of it in a single breath. He seemed uneasy. _He thinks that I think of him as being a bad friend, when I really just think he would make a better boyfriend than friend. _She finished the rest of the water, and handed the empty cup back to Apollo, letting her fingers linger longer than they needed to.

"Athena… It's okay if you want to leave, you know. I feel a lot better now, and… I want you to be happy. Thanks for being here for you… You're a really great friend to me."

"You're a great friend to me, too, Apollo." _I just wish it were more than that. _

"_Athena's hopelessly in love with Apollo!" _Widget chirped. Athena's face grew a deeper shade of red than her hair. Apollo looked horribly confused for a couple of seconds, before that gigantic, adorable, annoying smirk popped up on his face.

"So that's what that was all about?" he laughed. Athena's face burned with heat.

"I need a mute button. For both of you." Apollo smirked at her, and there was only way that she knew that she could wipe that dumb grin off of his face.

She wrapped her hands around his head, bringing his head towards hers in one quick motion. She felt his lips part slightly as he gasped in surprise, but he quickly returned the kiss. He wrapped his arms behind her back, closing the distance between them. They messily broke apart, and Apollo looked at her in utter bewilderment.

"I think I prefer that method of shutting me up," he finally said.

"I don't. It makes it so that I can't talk, either." Apollo drew her towards him again, much more gently, and their noses touched. His warm brown eyes stared into her vivid blue ones for just a moment before they both closed, and Apollo finished pulling Athena in for a kiss. It lasted for what felt like forever when they finally broke apart, because Athena had to yawn.

"Long day, huh?

"Yeah." _But not a bad one. _Apollo laid down across the couch, and Athena did the same, snuggling into his chest. Neither one had the energy to stand up and turn off the lights, or move much at all—the only motion being Apollo wrapping his arm around the beautiful girl in front of him, not wanting her to leave, ever.

Athena woke up the next morning to hear a soft, happy tune on the piano.


	5. Maya x Phoenix

I AM SO SORRY. I haven't been able to post for days. I thought I was going to die. I still wrote a bunch of stories, so y'all can enjoy these. If I have forced any of you into fanfiction withdrawls and you needed medical attention, I'll take care of the bills XD

Ok, this is actually really adorable, even though I'm not a huge fan of Phoenix X Maya, or Maya in general (Don't ask why unless you want a 3 hour long rant). Thanks for all the reviews guys, they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Well, I hope you guys enjoy!

Oh, right. Set 6 months after DD. (June)

(O)

They sat halfway up a hill in People Park, lying next to each other with their backs against the grass. The sky was a vivid blue, although the sun loomed on the horizon as if it would start to disappear within the hour. Puffy white clouds drifted lazily in the warm summer breeze.

Maya had finally come back, after all of her training. She was the master of Kurain now—and after eight years of rarely getting to see her, she had returned in January, now making weekly appearances at the Wright Anything Agency (she had been pleased that she could add her talents to the agency's arsenal now that it didn't say that it was a law agency). She looked older than she had eight years prior, but she was really the same old Maya. Well, besides the fact that she was his girlfriend now.

"You really should have bought us more burgers," she complained.

"I bought you six of them, Maya. Did you seriously eat them already?"

"Yeah. My burger stomach is a bottomless pit, you know!"

"Trust me, I know. Remember when you had seventeen of them in one sitting?"

"Wasn't that our first date? That was great. I wasn't even full after all of those, you know!" She laughed.

"Neither was my wallet." He had made a lot of money from his trials that month—The Phantom case, a request to defend a girl's father, one to defend Aura Blackquill… And Maya had practically eaten half of it in one sitting. _She's worth it, though. _

"You and your money problems! Gosh Nick, why'd you want to be a lawyer? You should have gotten a higher paying job—maybe you could've been a janitor or something."

"I wouldn't have met you if I wasn't a lawyer."

"You would've been so rich," she laughed. "It's not too late to become a janitor, Nick."

"It's too late to un-meet you, though."

"Sure you can! Just change your name, shave your head, and move to Maine or something."

"Nah, I don't think I could live without my hair. Plus, I don't think meeting you was a bad thing."

"You're so sappy today, Nick!" she laughed. "Hey, look, that cloud looks like the Steel Samurai!"

"No it doesn't. It looks like a cloud."

"You've got to use your imagination, Nick! It totally looks like the Steel Samurai! With the spear, and the little loopy things…"

"Oh, gosh."

"What?"

"You just reminded me of our second date." Maya burst out laughing.

"That was the best date ever."

"No it wasn't."

"Oh, come on!"

That date had been awful. Maya had dropped in on him while he was in his office, so he popped in an episode of the Steel Samurai so that he could finish up some paperwork while she entertained herself. Once he had finished, he sat next to her on the couch to watch it with her until it ended. Phoenix realized that Apollo, Athena, and Trucy would be getting home soon from an investigation, and Maya decided that she was going to surprise them by hiding in the bathroom. Trucy ran into the office first, exclaiming something about her dire need to use the restroom, and dashed in the bathroom. Phoenix heard a loud thumping noise as soon as she entered, and Trucy ran out, terrified, and telling him to go inside. He found Maya on the ground, her head bleeding a little. Some blood had gotten onto her channeling clothes, and he yelled at Trucy to find something for her to wear as he bandaged up her forehead with some gauze from a first aid kit. Trucy handed him one of her dresses, and he carefully (and awkwardly) tried to switch the dresses as gently (and quickly) as possible. Unfortunately, Apollo and Athena opened the bathroom door while Phoenix was attempting to put on the dress, and Apollo had turned beet red, running out the door. It had taken twenty minutes to convince him that they hadn't been doing anything rated M.

"You should've thought it was worse than I did. You were the one who got hurt."

"It didn't hurt that bad, she just slammed the door into my head when she saw me. Compared to Von Karma's taser, that was nothing! Plus, it was pretty funny watching you explain to Apollo why you were dressing me and there was blood all over the floor." Phoenix blushed a little at this.

"That was terrible."

"Well, what was your favorite date of ours?"

"Way to change the subject. I think I liked the one where we had a picnic here, and then went to watch Trucy's show at the Wonder Bar."

"Oh, that was pretty fun! Except that dumb duck stole some of my sandwich," she huffed.

"That's why it was great," Phoenix laughed.

"I do have to wonder where Trucy got the idea for doing her magic panties trick, though." Phoenix's blush returned.

"Apollo was the one who made it popular," he retorted. "So," he said, changing the subject. "Which was your favorite date? As in, not the ones where I embarrassed myself the most."

"But those are my favorites!" she laughed. "I don't know, I really liked that generic date where we did a dinner and a movie… Burgers, and then the Steel Samurai movie."

"That was pretty fun," Phoenix admitted. "Except for the person sitting in front of us during the movie. He was really distracting, because I kept thinking that he looked like Edgeworth."

"I can totally see Edgeworth going to a Steel Samurai movie."

"Yeah, right," Phoenix muttered. There was a pause.

"The sun's starting to go down," she pointed out. "It's really pretty."

"Have you seen the sunset from here before?"

"No. Kurain never has good sunsets, it's always so cloudy. Are the sunsets usually good from here?"

"They're beautiful." He turned his head to look at Maya, grass tickling his nose. She did the same, only to sneeze, splattering Phoenix with moisture.

"Eww! Sorry, Nick!" He wiped his face off with his sleeve.

"You should feel lucky that I love you," he grumbled.

"Do you really love me?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, Maya." She smiled.

"I love you too, Nick." He rolled over onto his side, and pulled her shoulder so that she would do the same. He leaned forward and kissed her, and after her soft lips left his, they didn't move or speak, but just laid on the grass together, feeling each other's warm breath on their faces.

"How much?" he asked. "How much do you love me?"

"What am I supposed to say, 3 grams?" _Way to ruin the moment, Maya. _

"On a scale of one to ten," he insisted.

"What's one, and what's ten?" she asked.

"One is as much as you love Jean Armstrong." She choked. "Ten is as much as… Err…"

"Ten," she interrupted with a genuine looking smile.

"I could have said something really disturbing there."

"No you couldn't, Nick, you have no sense of humor."

"I'm actually pretty funny when I—oomph!" She interrupted him with a messy kiss. "Way to shut me up."

"It works better than an objection," she retorted with a smirk. Phoenix backed away from her, and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Come here." She stood up, following him. They climbed up to the top of the hill.

"Wow…" she breathed. "The sunset really is beautiful here." Red, pink, and yellow streaked the sky like paint, vivid and textured in long, thin strokes.

"Maya, how much do you love me?" he repeated.

"I already told you, 10."

"How much is 10?"

"I dunno. Like 100 percent?" She gave him a confused look. "Why?" He got down on one knee, and she gasped.

"Is 10 enough to marry me?" He held out a ring, silver with a large purple gemstone in the middle.

"Yes," she breathed, holding out her hand. Phoenix smiled up at her lovingly as he slipped the ring on her finger, and she dropped onto her knees to hug him, laughing.

(O)

The two walked back to the agency hand in hand. When Phoenix opened the door, he found Athena, Apollo, Pearls, and Trucy sitting on the floor, playing Clue.

"Mr. Green killed him with a candlestick in the dining room!" Pearls announced triumphantly.

"Nope," Apollo shot her down, smirking. "Mr. Green is innocent."

"Argh!" Pearls crossed her arms across her waist.

"Oh, Daddy's home!" Trucy jumped to her feet, hugging Phoenix around the waist. "How was your guys' date?"

"Great," Maya replied, casually holding out the hand that had her new ring on it.

"Fantastic," Phoenix agreed.

"Aww! Your hearts sound so joyful!" Athena said with a wide smile. "You guys are so cute, you know."

"It's like Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick were made for each other!" Pearls exclaimed.

"Come on, guys! I want to keep playing. I've almost got this mystery figured out," Apollo complained.

"Come on, Apollo! We still haven't gotten the details of their date!" Athena criticized him. He rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, you guys might as well get married already," Apollo groaned. "You guys can't even be seen together before these guys start gawking over you." Maya laughed.

"Maybe someday." Apollo looked at her suspiciously.

"Can you say that again?" he asked.

"Maybe me and Nick will get married someday."

"Gotcha!" he called out with a smug look on his face. "When you said that, you twisted the ring on your finger. You're clearly hiding something." He pointed his finger to his forehead. _Come on, Apollo. She's wearing an engagement ring, and she she's hiding something about getting married. If there's any logic hidden underneath that giant forehead of yours, you'll be able to get this. _"Well, it's not like you guys got in a fight, because Athena pointed out that you were both happy when you walked into the room…" _Warmer… _

"Oh!" Trucy gasped. "We're all idiots!" _Welcome to the marriage train, Trucy. We still expect three more passengers to board, hopefully. _

"What is it?" Athena looked at her, confused, and back at Phoenix and Maya, before bursting out in a fit of laughter. "Oh my gosh!"

Pearls had apparently figured it out a while ago, because she winked at Phoenix.

"What? Did you two figure it out?" Apollo asked Trucy and Athena.

"Apollo, you've got to turn around your thinking," Trucy suggested. _That's my girl… No, she's our girl, now. _"Instead of thinking of why they wouldn't get married in the future…"

"But she lied when she said that they might get married someday!"

"Exactly. What else could she have lied about?"

"We might get married someday…" Apollo pressed a finger to his forehead, thinking hard. Athena and Pearls laughed. "Instead of thinking why they wouldn't get married…" His jaw dropped. "I'm a complete idiot. I even pointed out the ring." Everybody laughed, and he blushed a little.

"How did he propose?" Athena asked Maya excitedly.

"He was really awkward and corny, wasn't he?" Trucy added with a smirk.

"Yeah. He asked me how much I loved him on a scale of one to ten, and when I said ten, he got down on one knee and asked if ten was enough to marry me."

"Aww!" Pearls exclaimed.

"Oh come on, Daddy. Was that the best you could've done?"

"You make me sound a thousand times more awkward than I actually was," Phoenix protested.

"All right, there was a pretty sunset too. But I made you sound a thousand times less awkward than you really were," Maya teased him.

"Still not as awkward as Polly," Trucy commented.

Everyone but Apollo agreed on that point. Something told him that he wasn't going to get to prove that the murderer was actually Mrs. White.


	6. Simon x Athena

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been able to post, my internet has been angry with me :(

I decided to puke all of my stories out at once, so know that I posted two on this story. Yes, skip back one. It's Phoenix X Maya, which I know you like~

I'm now at a 3 way tie between Miego, Justiskye, and Larris? (Larry X Iris needs a ship name.) You should help me decide. I have a really great idea for Miego, but Justiskye is my OTP, and Larris is overall just a good thing. So. If you don't vote, I'll probably do it in the order I listed them, just because my Miego idea is so adorable that it's driving me insane.

Well, enjoy Athena x Blackquill!

(O)

It felt so great to be out of the house.

As much as Athena loved her kids, Louie and Ella could be more than just a handful. Louie was 2, with messy orange hair, and Ella was 4, with shoulder-length black hair that looked brown in the sunlight. Apollo had volunteered to babysit (Well, more like Trucy forced him to volunteer) for the night so that Athena and Simon could finally go on a date. _What could possibly go wrong? _

The dark circles under Simon's eyes had grown lighter and lighter, Athena noticed, while hers got darker and darker. _Nothing a little makeup can't fix! _ He sat across the table from her, clearly happy to have a moment of peace as well. They had gone to eat out at El Dente's, a pasta joint that Mr. Wright had recommended.

"Wow, it smells good in here," Athena noted.

"I'm quite surprised that your boss would have good taste," Simon agreed, laughing.

"Hey, he spent 7 years working in restaurants."

"Ah, he played poker, did he not?"

"Yeah. He had an eight year winning streak, until Apollo decided to play against him to stop him from bragging."

"Ah, Apollo is quite perceptive. I can imagine him being good at a game of cards."

"Yeah, he can beat anyone. I remember when I made the mistake of playing BS with him," Athena grumbled.

"He has that cheat of his to help him, of course."

"It's not really a cheat… I think Widget counts as being more of a cheat than Apollo's ability. Widget's a piece of technology, while Apollo's just really good at lie-detecting."

"Ah, but I wouldn't allow Taka to attack you, now would I?"

"So that was it?" she laughed.

A waitress approached the table. "Hello, how may I help you today?"

"We'd like the super noodle, please," Simon requested. The waitress giggled.

"Aww, that's adorable. I'll be right back." She walked away, and Athena raised an eyebrow. It didn't take much brain power to figure out why noodles were adorable.

"That's more like a first date stunt, Simon." She looked at him smugly.

"It's the first one in a while, is it not?" He wiggled his eyebrows, and Athena rolled her eyes. The waitress returned with a plate of noodles.

"Wow, that was fast!" Athena explained.

"We like to keep this dish available at all times, especially in the evenings," the waitress explained. "It's our number one date food. Well, I hope you two enjoy!" She winked at Simon, and left. The dish in front of them was a single noodle, which was probably ten feet long.

"I don't see how this is supposed to be romantic," Athena complained. "It's really annoying to try and swallow something this long, and chewing it as you go doesn't work too well, either." Simon took a fork and cut it a few times, creating smaller pieces. He then passed the fork to Athena. "Thanks," she replied, winding up a string of pasta on her fork. It was very well seasoned, she had to admit.

"Of course," he replied. "You were always the one to untraditionalize romance."

It was true. One time, she had tipped over a candle at a candlelit dinner, and it had ended up becoming a bonfire dinner as the tablecloth burned up. The coffee table was all right, though, and Athena thought her salad actually tasted better roasted. Another time, they had been watching a romantic movie, and Athena had puked as soon as the main character had kissed his love interest. Simon had taken her temperature, which was at 104, and he spent the rest of the night taking care of her. And during their first dance on their wedding night, Athena had stepped on his foot, and they both fell. As soon as she had regained her bearings, she had kissed him.

"It wasn't usually on purpose," she mused. Simon laughed.

"I wonder how Justice-dono is faring," he said.

"Oh. I forgot about him. He should be fine, Ella likes him."

"That's why I'm concerned," he laughed.

"Apollo's got a loud voice. If they try anything, they're in for a surprise."

"Chords of Fear," he agreed. Athena giggled. She looked down on their plate, which only had one more noodle on it. Simon noticed it too, and winked at her. She laughed.

"It's mine," she said, quickly grabbing it with her hand.

"Some manners you've got there," he replied.

"Shub up," she replied, stuffing her face with noodles. Simon leaned over and kissed her, taking part of the noodle from her mouth. "Hey!" she almost yelled, swallowing.

"Sharing is caring, is it not?" Simon grinned. Wanting to wipe that smirk off his face, she leaned over and kissed him. Simon's hands wrapped around her head, big and warm. Athena's sensitive ears picked up an "_aww!" _coming from the waitress from before, and she almost laughed.

"I love you," he said as they broke apart.

"I love you, too."

"ATHENA!" A young girl sprinted into the room, stopping in front of their table. "Apollo…" she gasped.

"What did they do?" Athena moaned.

"It's… better if you… come and see yourself… It's actually… really funny," she laughed, still gasping for breath. _Typical Trucy. _She looked at Simon, who smiled warmly. _I want to stay here, though. _ Reluctantly, she stood up.

"I'm going to go check the damages," she groaned. He handed her a 20$ bill.

"Give this to him," he told her. She nodded.

"You still have enough for the bill?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," she replied. The office was really close by, only a minute if she ran. _It was a really bad idea to leave them in a room full of magic props, wasn't it? _

She followed Trucy out of the restaurant and into the office, getting into the elevator. As soon as she entered the office, she couldn't help but laugh. Apollo was duct taped to a chair, every part of him completely covered in the sticky tape. Even his mouth was covered, with a little space for his nose. Her kids were running around him with paint, completely covering him with hot pink.

"Look, mama! He's so pretty!" Ella laughed.

"Polly stuck," Louie giggled in agreement.

"Is it nice to do this to Apollo?" she asked.

"No…" Ella grumbled.

"Did you ask if it was ok to duct tape him to the chair?"

"Yes."

"Did he say yes?"

"No… But he did say that we could paint."

"Did he say that you could paint him?"

"Yes." Athena looked over to Apollo, who was looking at her crossly. She peeled the tape off of his mouth.

"I meant that you could paint a picture of me! Not get paint on me!" _At least they didn't get any of it on the floor. It could have been worse. _

"Sorry, Apollo." She turned back to her kids. "You guys are both going in time out. I'll tell you when you're allowed to come out of the corner."

"Damage!" Ella spat. Athena raised her eyebrow.

"What did you say?"

"Damage. It's what Polly said when he got mad." Athena gave Apollo a quick glare.

"You aren't allowed to say that."

"Why not? Polly can say it."

"It's a magic adult password. If a kid or an adult says it to an adult, the adult is allowed to punish them."

"That's dumb," Ella complained. "Why would anyone say it, then?"

"That's a good question," she replied, smirking at Apollo. "Now go in the corner."

"Fine." She stomped off to the edge of the room.

"Sorry, Apollo."

"This is why I told Trucy that I'm bad with kids."

"Nah, my kids are just bad with babysitters," she replied. She proceeded to try and rip the tape off, which thankfully hadn't been done all that craftily.

"How did they manage to get the tape as high as your mouth?" she asked.

"Oh, that was Trucy," he practically hissed. Trucy, who was sitting in the back of the room, burst out laughing.

"What was I supposed to do, with him spouting words like damage?" she laughed.

"Stop them from attacking me, maybe?" Apollo grumbled.

"Aww, but Polly, you looked so pretty dressed up in silver and pink!" she laughed.

Athena finally freed Apollo, and handed him the $20. "Thanks. I'm sorry I couldn't let you have your peaceful night out…"

"Don't worry about it. Trucy, do you think you can handle them?"

"Is that really a good idea?" Apollo asked.

"If they destroy anything, it would be her own props," Athena pointed out. "Plus, they seem to listen to her, considering she wasn't the one duct-taped to a chair."

"Of course I will, Thena!" Trucy grinned.

"Thanks." She left the office, sprinting back to the pasta restaurant. "I'm back," she informed Simon, breathing heavily.

"What did they do, exactly?"

"They duct taped Apollo to a chair, and covered him in pink paint." Simon laughed. "Oh, shoot. I never told them when they could come out of time-out."

"It doesn't matter. They would leave as soon as you left the room anyways," Simon pointed out.

"Trucy's a terrible influence on Ella," Athena moaned.

"Ah, they'll mature eventually. Trucy's manageable, at least."

"Hopefully. She's 22."

"Sorry you had to deal with that all by yourself, sweetheart."

"It's all right. Thanks for sitting here by yourself," she replied with a smile. She sat down next to Simon in the booth, and kissed him.

As much as their kids drove Athena insane, she wouldn't want their relationship to have turned out any other way.


	7. Mia x Diego

Sorry for making you all crazy with my obsessive number of posts. I kinda had to puke up everything my computer had XD

Well, here's some Miego for your amusement. Actually, not really. I'm crying right now ahhhh. I went way over the top with the sadness. Please forgive me I'm suffering too wahhhh. ;_;

(O)

At first, I was pretty skeptical. What kind of boyfriend gives you a tree for your birthday?

I have to admit, it grew on me. Quite literally. It started out as this tiny little potted plant, but now it's almost as tall as Maya. I can officially say that coffee does NOT stunt a tree's growth, considering how much coffee has drenched the soil of that little guy.

It started out as a pretty typical day, really. I went to work as usual. Mr. Grossberg had completely forgotten about my birthday, which really didn't surprise me. Diego, however, greeted me excitedly.

"Happy Birthday!" he had said with a wide grin. He handed me a cup of coffee, saying that he had come up with the blend himself. I still can remember it—it was one good cup of coffee. He then told me that he had some other presents for me—and he led me over to his desk, which was close to mine. Sitting inside was a tiny potted plant, a bag of the coffee blend he had made for me, a cute card, some chocolate, and a gift card to some furniture store.

"Wow, this is a lot," I had remarked, my shocked face quickly melting into a smile. "Thank you, Diego."

"Do you like the tree?"

"I have to admit, it's a bit strange. I'm guessing you have some reasoning behind it?"

"It's just a little reminder that no matter what happens, life goes on. It doesn't matter if you get a rough case, or someone dies on you, or you break your coffee maker—that little tree will keep on growing."

"Thank you, I love it," I had replied, exaggerating a little bit. He had kissed me then, and I can still remember how his lips tasted like a really good cup of coffee.

I kept that tree on my desk from that point on, as a reminder… Not necessarily of Diego's little aphorism, but as a reminder that I was loved. Plus, I had to admit that the little plant looked pretty good on my desk. Eventually it got too big for both my computer and my plant to co-exist on my desk, so I had to move it to the floor between my desk and Diego's.

A few months later, I was working at my desk.

"What are you working on, Kitten?"

"Grossberg's got a case where a single mom was accused of killing her daughter, and I've been helping out… I spent the entire morning bribing her other kids with candy so that they would explain what they had seen."

"What had they seen?"

"One had seen her mom kill his sister, one had seen a stranger kill her sister, and the other one wouldn't say a word, no matter how much chocolate I pulled out."

"What were their names?"

"The first boy was named Luke, the girl was Lucy, and the other boy was Josh."

"If we had kids, what would you want their names to be?" He asked, reclining in his chair. I blushed at this.

"That's completely irrelevant to the case at hand."

"If that was an objection, it's overruled. Now Kitten, what would you name them?"

"Fine. If it was a girl, I'd probably name her… Mary. And if it was a boy… I've always liked the name Charles."

"I like Mary. Charles sounds really old, doesn't it?"

"It's not that old…" I protested. "Plus, he could go by Charlie."

"Charlie's got a nice ring to it," he agreed. "Especially if we spelled it with an 'E-Y', so it wouldn't be so old looking."

It was later that day when I got a call. Diego was in a coma. I rushed to the hospital, and he was laying there, mostly dead. I couldn't stop crying. He had given me hope as a lawyer, and he was just laying there, like a corpse. He had all kinds of tubes sticking out of him, and his hair looked more gray than black.

I asked what had happened, and I was told that he was poisoned. I also heard that he had been questioning Dahlia Hawthorne that day. The same Dahlia who had basically killed Terry Fawles on the witness stand. I could feel anger and hatred burning inside of me, seeing Diego lying there, helpless. He looked so… Small.

Some rookie defense attorney took Dahlia's case, and I was sure that she would be convicted. The rookie was only 20 years old, and he had to go overseas to Germany in order to start out so young. However, his opponent happened to be Winston Payne, and the rookie was quite talented, I had to admit. There was definitely something off about that trial, however—it seemed as if the defense may have forged evidence. Whether it was due to forged evidence, Winston Payne's incompetence, or Dahlia's evil genius I'll never know, but Dahlia Hawthorne was found Not Guilty. To this day I regret not taking her case, not that she would have let me defend her. If I had stopped her then, she wouldn't have hurt as many people.

I went to see Diego again that day, and I sat over his body and sobbed for a long time. His hair had turned a ghastly white, and the doctors had told me that he would never see again. I left Grossberg Law Offices, knowing that I wouldn't be able to work next to Diego's desk without crying. I took my tree with me—which I had finally named Charley. I began to research Dahlia Hawthorne, and track her every move. Yeah, I was being a bit of a stalker, but it was to catch her the next time she was involved in a case. Six months later, I finally had her.

This kid… Greg Swallow, I think it was… was murdered, and some weird art student was accused of killing him. The most interesting part was the girl he was dating—Dahlia Hawthorne herself. I took the case immediately, knowing that if Dahlia was involved, the Wry kid was innocent beyond a doubt (Plus, what kind of murderer wears pink?). This time, I won. It was a close call, though. The Wry kid had eaten a bottle of poison, which was far too much like my first case. _Romance tip for you, Dahlia: Don't give your boyfriends poison necklaces. They'll all try to commit suicide when you leave them. _

I went back to see Diego again, and I held his hand in mine. "I got her, Diego. I only wish you could have been there with me." I kissed him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to kiss me back, and the thought brought tears to my eyes. "Why did she have to hurt you?" I asked, brushing my hand through his white hair.

The next week, Mr. Grossberg had asked if I was interested in taking Diego's stuff back to my office. I agreed that I would. I went to his desk, and began to sort through his papers and things. When I opened his pencil drawer, I found a small box. Inside of it was a beautiful gold ring, and my heart felt heavy when I realized what it was. _He was going to propose to me. _I ran out of the office, leaving Grossberg confused.

As soon as I got to my office, the stupid tree was there, practically staring at me. I collapsed in front of it, sobbing, watering it with my tears. I wrapped my arms around it, feeling hopeless. I felt a bit ridiculous hugging a tree and crying, but I was too upset to care. It was probably an hour before I moved again. I remembered Diego's words.

"It's just a little reminder that no matter what happens, life goes on. It doesn't matter if you get a rough case, or someone dies on you, or you break your coffee maker—that little tree will keep on growing."

Life goes on.

You need to turn around your thinking, Mia. Instead of wondering what you'll do without him, you have to wonder what you'll do when he wakes up.

Hope filled my heart with a warm, peaceful feeling as I considered this, and I stood up, wiping my tears out of my eyes.

A lawyer can't cry until it's all over.

Mia, it's not over yet.


	8. Apollo x Ema

I personally apologize for making at least 5 people cry (me included). But not really XD

(Did anyone catch who Dahlia's lawyer was? I thought I was being so clever, but nobody seemed to notice.)

Happy Easter, guys! (Or 4-20, if that's your thing.) Keep your requests coming, if you haven't already gotten all of your ships out lol. I've got 2 OTPs, and one of them hasn't been requested yet. (No, I can't just have one true pair.)

Well, this is my less obscure OTP that I've been obsessed with since the time long long ago when I thought that OOC meant Out Of Control. Enjoy! :D

(Set a few days after AJ)

(O)

Trucy had finished stage 1 of her secret mission just after her daddy had. She had been working as an undercover investigator, trying to figure out anything she could that would help her finish, and she had finally gotten all of the information she needed.

OPERATION MAGIC-MAKING

_Goal: Get Polly a girlfriend so I can tease him about it. _

_Stage 1: Pick a girlfriend for him. _

_Potential girlfriends:_

_Olga Orly: She's pretty weird, just like Polly. She's nice when she wants to be, but she also has a cool, dangerous side._

_Evidence of a relationship: She took a picture of him and said he looked good. _

_Verdict: I think she and Polly kinda hate each other, so it's not going to happen without a whole lot of magic. _

_Alita Tiala: She's nice, but she's already engaged to another guy. Engagements aren't set in stone, though. She's also shy and sweet like Polly, which is cute. _

_Evidence of a relationship: She came back to see Polly to get help with a case even after she met me._

_Verdict: Apparently she's a murderer. I doubt it would work out. _

_Plum Kitaki: She's so cool, and dangerous, and funny! _

_Evidence of a relationship: She laughs at his jokes, which are all terrible. She's pretty old, though, and Polly doesn't quite strike me as a bad guy._

_Verdict: She's already married, and I think Polly's kinda scared of her, so I think I'll go with someone else._

_Jinxie Tenma: She's my friend. She's a little young for Polly, though._

_Evidence of a relationship: They've never met, but they're both awkward and easily scared. _

_Verdict: I dunno if it would work out. Probably not. _

_Vera Misham: She's really nice, even though she's a forger. She didn't actually know that she was doing anything illegal, so I think it's ok. She's doing legal artwork now. Plus, Vera and Polly are both orphans now, so Polly could help her!_

_Evidence of a relationship: Polly was totally freaking out, and he cried when he figured out that Vera was ok. And she was super happy and drew a picture of us! _

_Verdict: It would be really cute, but it would take a LOT of meddling to get it to work, since they're both so shy. _

_Ema Skye: She's kinda grumpy most of the time, but she's always happier when she's around Polly. They do lots of work together. She's pretty nice to me, too, and she's really funny. _

_Evidence of a relationship: Ema was having a terrible day and Prosecutor Gavin warned us to avoid her, but when we saw her, she didn't really seem that grumpy. She even told Polly to call her Ema, since they were friends. Except she didn't use the word friends, like she didn't want to put a limit on their relationship. Then, she told Polly to guard a body, and he didn't listen. The body got stolen, and even though she was having a horrible day, she was only mad for a few seconds before she was smiling again. It's like she couldn't be mad at Polly! And then the next day, she shared her Snackoos with him in court. It takes a lot to make a girl give away chocolate, I should know! Oh, and I managed to find Polly's usually super serious case notes, and this is what he wrote about her: "Ema was in a good mood today. It was nice to see her smile. I wish I could see it more often, it made me feel pretty happy too, even after that awful case." It was soooo cute! _

_Verdict: They're so cute together, and they already seem to like each other! And Ema's really blunt most of the time, so she probably would admit that she liked Polly if it came down to it. _

_Results of Stage 1: Ema wins! :D_

_Stage 2: Make them fall in love. _

Trucy looked proudly at her professional work, before jotting down some ideas. This was going to be fantastic. Grinning, she picked up her phone, and called a number in her contacts.

"Hey, Prosecutor Gavin?"

(O)

"Hey, Polly! Wanna go to the park?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have paperwork to do. And it's cold."

"It's 60 degrees! That's not cold! And you don't have that much paperwork to do."

"Work first."

"Taking care of me is work!"

"You really aren't helping your case."

"Please, Polly?"

"Why do you want to go to the park? And why can't you go by yourself?"

"I just wanted to spend some time with you, Polly… The only times I ever get to see you is when you're all stressed over a case." Ok, that one hurt a little.

"Oh… All right, I'll take you."

"Thank you, Polly!" Trucy ran up and hugged her brother around the waist, and he smiled. Trucy grabbed a blanket and a bag of bread.

"What are you doing?"

"There's ducks at the pond in the park!"

"You want to feed them?"

"Yeah." Apollo shrugged.

"All right, let's go."

(O)

_Stupid body. Stupid case. Stupid murder weapon. Stupid defense attorney. _

"Fraulein?" _Stupid fop. _

"What do you want?!"

"Are you all right?"

"Are you kidding me?! This case has been a total train wreck! The stupid defense attorney spilled noodles all over the body!" A murder had happened at El Dente's pasta, and Ema, of course, was in charge of investigating it. Along with that stupid fop.

"Fraulein, it's all right. I think you just need to step out for a little while, and cool down. We're quite close to People Park, are we not?"

"I don't want to go for a dumb walk," she pouted, much like a small child.

"As your boss, I'm ordering you to take a walk. All this stress is terrible for your health, ja?"

"Argh, glimmerous fop," she growled, stomping out the door. She didn't need to cool down. That stupid fop needed to heat up. That stupid defense attorney had spilled stupid noodles all over the stupid body! She went to People Park as ordered, glaring at everything in sight. A duck stared at her, and quacked. She threw a Snackoo at it, and it ate it happily. _No, that was supposed to hurt, you stupid duck. _The duck quacked again.

At this rate, it was going to take a long time to "cool down". _Why couldn't the defense attorney have been someone halfway capable, like Apollo? _She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. The beautiful park scenery began to slowly creep past her bitter defenses, and she felt the tension in her shoulders slowly disappear. She even managed to smile. Looking around, her eyes met the beauty of the lake, clouds reflecting off of the cool water. Across the lake, she saw a whole crowd of what looked like 30 ducks crowded around two people, and she laughed. _Wait. Not everyone wears a completely red suit everywhere they go, or a blue cape and top hat. _She walked relatively quickly around the lake. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're feeding the ducks!" Trucy exclaimed, looking far too happy about it.

"Trucy's feeding the ducks. I'm planning which way to escape when she runs out of bread and the whole flock of ducks comes chasing after us." Ema laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"I kinda lost it at a crime scene. A defense attorney decided to spill noodles all over the dead body. I got so mad that Gavin made me leave and go take a walk."

"That's almost as bad as a defense attorney leaving a dead body unattended," Trucy laughed.

"No, at least Apollo's screw-up didn't completely destroy all hope of doing an autopsy on the stomach wound," Ema grumbled. "I missed you today, actually."

"I wish I was there… All I did today was paperwork."

"And duck-feeding," Trucy added.

"No, you did the duck-feeding. I'm still trying to find out how to defend myself against a duck attack." Trucy and Ema both burst out laughing, and Apollo looked clueless for a second. "Oh, right. I'm a defense attorney."

"But really, I wish you were there instead of the noodle-spilling attorney." Ema smiled weakly.

"I guess you could say that he lost his noodles, huh?"

"It's not funny when you try, Polly!" Trucy protested.

"Eh, he's better than Mr. Wright," she pointed out.

"That's like saying that he's a better piano player than Daddy," Trucy countered.

"I'm right here, guys," Apollo said, annoyed.

"Really? I didn't notice you there," Ema laughed.

"Hey Polly? I really have to go to the bathroom. I'll run to the office, so I don't have to use the Port-a-potty."

"All right. Just don't go and get hit by a car, all right?"

"Yeah, look both ways before crossing the street, I know!" She stuck her tongue out before running off.

"Ahh!" Ema turned to see a duck right next to Apollo, and laughed.

"You have to feed it, Apollo."

"No! It'll just want more!"

"Then tie the bag and throw it in the water. The ducks will start attacking it."

"They will?"

"I don't know. It sounds like it would be funny to watch, though." Apollo shrugged, tied the bag with a tight knot, and threw it into the water. Sure enough, a little game of duck soccer began, and both Ema and Apollo couldn't help but laugh. Ema finally sat down on the blanket next to Apollo, tired of standing in place. She yawned.

"Tired?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah. That stupid case."

"I know how you feel. If you don't do your job right, a criminal might go free, and an innocent person might be sentenced to death. It's hard to sleep when that thought is in the back of your mind." Ema made some grunt of agreement. They continued to watch the ducks attacking the bread balloon with silent amusement. "Sometimes I feel like I'm a bread balloon, and everyone else is a duck."

"They all want to eat you?" She smirked, and Apollo glared at her.

"More like everyone near me is trying to attack me most of the time."

"I get that feeling sometimes," she agreed.

"I mean, I can only name two people who don't make my life harder on a regular basis."

"Trucy and Mr. Wright?"

"Not even close," he replied, half-laughing. "It's not that they're purposely trying to make me miserable, it's just that their idea of fun is making me go insane."

"Then who are they? Your parents?"

"I don't have parents," he admitted sadly.

"Really? I don't, either. It kinda sucks sometimes."

"Huh, I didn't know you were an orphan," Apollo mused.

"Not quite an orphan… My older sister was old enough to take care of me."

"Oh." He paused for a second to watch the ducks, which were failing miserably to penetrate the bag.

"Who are the two?" Ema finally asked.

"Oh. My best friend Clay… You haven't met him, actually. I met him in junior high."

"And the other one?"

"You," he admitted with a small smile.

"Really?" she said, somewhat surprised. "I feel like I'm not the most cooperative person out there."

"I never said that you never make my life harder," he said with a laugh. "I just said that you don't make it harder on a regular basis." She grinned.

"I think I've got four."

"Who?"

"My older sister Lana, and you, and the Wrights."

"I'm on your list?"

"Yeah. It's always fun to watch you put the fop in his place. Plus," she added, "you seem to appreciate me for my love of science, which nobody else really seems to care about."

"Your science has been crucial in all of the cases you've helped me with." He smiled. "Without you, three innocent people would be in jail, and three murderers wouldn't."

"Thanks," she said with a shy smile. "That means a lot to me." She looked into his brown eyes, which stared back at her warmly. Her heart fluttered a bit, and she scolded herself. _He doesn't like you in that way. _

"Ema…" he started, unsure of what to say. "Do you think of me as a friend?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, you're a great friend."

"Gotcha," he said quietly with a smirk.

"What?" she asked a bit louder.

"You blushed."

"A-and your point?"

"What's so embarrassing about being my friend, Ema?" he laughed half-heartedly.

"N-nothing!"

"The defense has a theory as to why you would be embarrassed."

"I really don't want to hear-! Oomph!" The second his lips met hers, she could practically feel herself melting. His warm hands came to rest on her neck, gently moving through her hair. She kissed him back, and tasted something like coffee on his lips, unsurprisingly. She shivered because of the sensations that filled her, and Apollo wrapped his arms around her back, drawing the two of them closer. He was warm, and she could feel his heart beating as fast as hers was as they pressed together. She broke away, gasping for breath. "Apollo…" He smiled at her, equally out of breath.

"Hey, fraulein. Have you calmed down yet?" Ema jumped a full three feet away from Apollo, hyperventilating for a completely different reason.

"F-fop…!" Her face turned a deep shade of red.

"Herr Forehead, I didn't expect to find you here. Thank you for helping the fraulein relax a bit."

"P-prosecutor G-gavin, err…" His face was even redder than Ema's, which was quite an accomplishment.

"Aww, Prosecutor Gavin, you ruined the moment!" Trucy laughed, coming out from her hiding spot behind a bush.

"Trucy?!" Apollo had completely forgotten about her little "trip to the bathroom".

"Hey, Polly! I knew you guys would make a good couple!"

"What the heck is going on?!" Ema yelled, clearly mortified.

"Well, I wanted to get you guys together, so I asked Polly to take me to the park, and Prosecutor Gavin to send you to the park, and then I ducked out!" Trucy replied happily.

"T-Trucy, I am going to kill you when we get home," Apollo replied.

"Ach, that's not a very wise thing to say in front of a prosecutor, ja?" Prosecutor Gavin smirked. "Ach, fraulein, we should leave these two alone now. Fraulein Skye, you don't have to come back to work tonight. It's quite obvious that you have… other things you need to attend to, ja?" Her face turned a deeper shade of red. Klavier and Trucy walked away, quicker than a casual stroll.

"That fop is going to get it."

"It was Trucy's fault." There was an awkward pause. "Actually, I don't think today was all that bad."

"Besides the fact that the fop will be making fun of me for months, I agree." She looked at him with a smile, and she brought her lips to his, just for a moment.

When they broke apart, there was a duck sitting in front of them with a plastic bag in its beak, and they both looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

(O)

_Stage Two: A complete success._

_(Attached is a picture of Ema and Apollo kissing)_

Stage Three: Make fun of Polly. I don't think I'll ever finish this stage, but I'm off to a good start.

Trucy turned the page in her book.

OPERATION: MAGIC-MAKING PART 2

Goal: Find a new mommy.

Stage 1: Pick a good mommy.

Trucy closed her notebook. Time to do some more investigating. The work of a magician-detective never runs out, huh?

She was kind of glad that it didn't.


	9. Franziska x Edgeworth

Wow, that got a lot of reviews. O_o

Yesss, I got a bunch of requests (So 2) for my wonderful but obscure OTP, Clayma. I'm pretty sure that wasn't a thing before I joined the internet, but now I've got a few people who have gotten on the ship, and it makes me happy. Once day, I shall read fanfictions of them together, and it shall be fantastic.

Well, I can't write both of my OTPs in a row, so here's some Edgeworth X Franziska for all of y'all :D

(O)

I couldn't believe it had been a month since I started dating that adorable fool.

Miles had started out as my older little adopted brother, the object of my teasing for some time. However, after learning of the horrors of our father's crimes, neither of us wanted anything to do with the Von Karma name anymore. However, we still clung together, not wanting to let each other go. However, our relationship then was only as good friends. Then, of course, that fool Wright had to step in.

He more or less told us both to our faces that we had to admit our feelings for one another. At that point, those feelings were non-existent, so I whipped him. Several times, actually. However, when Miles had thanked me with a smile and a slight blush from Wright's foolish comment, I remembered how Wright always seemed to be in line with the truth.

I, of course, whipped Wright again for putting strange thoughts for my head.

However, that foolish fool kept on meddling, and somehow, he convinced us to go on one date together. He said that if we didn't like it, we didn't have to do it again, and he would leave us alone.

Needless to say, we both liked it quite a bit.

We had gone on a variety of dates since, which were all rather pleasant. They ranged from nights at fancy restaurants to me drinking tea in his office while I pestered him in any way imaginable. However, I was made aware of one fact: The two of us had never kissed.

I had always hated the idea, really. "Oh, I love you, so I'm going to spit in your mouth and make you sick!" "Oh, how romantic!" Really, it was quite annoying. However, I had always wondered with a childlike curiosity why everyone did it if it wasn't somehow pleasant. I wanted to try it, just once, in order to be able to say with perfect confidence that kissing is a foolish activity foolishly meant for foolish fools.

When Miles asked me out on another date, I decided that I would at least ask. What was the worst that could happen, he laughed at me? It wasn't as if he wouldn't do that anyways. However, this time, he asked me to come to his own home, which he had never done before. I arrived at 8:00 sharp, perfectly on time. Miles welcomed me in with a slight smile, and invited me to sit on the couch. Part of me had been expecting to watch a movie with him, although I was somewhat glad to find out that we weren't. Miles' movie choice would have been a disaster.

On the coffee table rested a few board games, and empty mugs. "Would you like a drink? I have hot chocolate."

"Yes." Although hot chocolate was a child's drink, I had to admit that it tasted a whole lot better than his glorified leaf water.

"All right, I'll be back in a second." I took a moment to look at the board game choices—Chess (of course, it WAS Miles, after all), Monopoly, Clue, and Sorry. It wasn't exactly the largest assortment, and Monopoly and Clue weren't all that much fun with only two people. I picked up the Sorry box, looking at the game that I hadn't touched in years. It brought back memories, that was for sure.

Miles returned with two cups, one filled with tea, and the other with my hot chocolate. He handed the hot chocolate to me gently, and I took a sip. It wasn't bad, considering that he had made it in the microwave. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Huh?"

"The game."

"Oh, right." I had been looking at the colorful images of children laughing on the back. _Foolish children. What's so funny about a piece of cardboard and colored plastic? _

"I remember when we used to play that," he mused.

"Miles Edgeworth, I am going to beat you at this game," I declared. He smirked.

"You always lost as a kid."

"You were older than me."

"I still am."

"Perfection knows no age," I said smugly. He opened the box, smirking, and pulled out the game board, cards, and playing pieces. The game was simple, so he set it up rather quickly. I was blue, of course, and he was red. All I had to do was get four small pieces of plastic around the game board from START to HOME.

"You can start," he told me. I picked up a card.

"Three," I said grumpily. To get my piece out of the START, I needed a one or a two.

"Five."

"Twelve."

"Seven."

"Two," I said with a grin. I pulled my game piece out of the start proudly, and reached for another card, as a two meant that you got to draw again. "And twelve," I said smugly. I moved my piece twelve spaces, drawing out each individual hop from square to square just to rub it in.

"Sorry," Edgeworth grinned. He showed me his card, which allowed him to take a piece out of his START and replace it with mine. He picked my piece up and moved it back into the home square.

(O)

"I only lost by a little," I whined. "You just have foolish luck on your side." Miles laughed.

"Maybe one day you'll be able to beat me," he replied, smug as ever. I yawned. "Are you tired?"

"Yes," I replied. "That's the only reason I lost to you."

"Oh, I thought it was because I had gotten lucky." I wished that I had my whip with me, so that I could wipe that foolish look off his face. I yawned again, and leaned against Miles' shoulder. It tensed up at first, and eventually relaxed. The warmth of his body was calming, and I quickly forgot about my loss. His hand brushed across my face, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I opened my eyes to see his unusually piercing gray eyes staring lovingly into mine. The situation reminded me of my earlier quest.

"Miles, I have a request."

"What is it?"

"I've always… err… I was curious to see why people kiss… It seems so gross, but everyone does it, so—Miles Edgeworth! Are you laughing?!" He was, of course.

"I'm sorry, it just sounded strange, coming from your mouth."

"I want you to kiss me," I demanded.

"So that you can test the foolish desires of the masses?" Edgeworth asked, clearly amused.

"Yes," I grumbled.

"Why do you think the foolish masses find it desirable?" he asked.

"That's what I wanted to find out."

"You have to have a hypothesis before you test it," he reminded me.

"I know the scientific method, I hope you know," I growled. "Obviously some find it to be pleasurable, or they wouldn't do it."

"So you want to use me as your lab rat?"

"Yes." This made him laugh. He leaned over to me, and as soon as I felt his face coming towards mine, I backed away. "Wait, you fool! I wasn't ready yet." He backed away, and smirked. I took a deep breath, staring at his lips. _Come on, Franziska. If the mindless masses can do it, you can, too. _I leaned in to meet his lips, but attempted to pull away again. Miles didn't let me this time though, as his hand wrapped around the back of my head, pulling me closer. I let out a muffled shriek. His lips were coming closer and I couldn't move and where on earth was my whip and…!

His lips met mine, and my entire body was filled with a strange feeling, though not completely undesirable. I forced myself to relax, and the strange feeling filled me from my head to my toes. I concentrated on the feeling of his soft lips against mine, and the feeling of his hand gliding through my hair, and his warm body pressed against mine. As I began to calm down, I remembered that I was supposed to be doing the kissing motion too, so I began to kiss him back sloppily. The pressure grew and grew, until something deep inside of me reminded me that I needed to breathe. I pulled away successfully this time, gasping for breath.

"I think the foolish masses have won a point in their favor," I said eventually.

"Did you enjoy that?" he asked with that foolish smirk still on his face.

"I think more evidence is needed," I replied.

He was perfectly happy to give it to me.


	10. Klavier x Trucy

Admittedly, I'm not a big shipper of Klavier X Trucy. I really did try my best, though. It kinda ended up as some kind of James Bond fiasco though lol XD  
Admittedly, it's not THAT romantic. It's a little fluffy at the end, but kind of in a brotherly way. Kind of not, though. It should suit your ships XP

Oh, yes. I promise a Larry X Iris fic next time. I've been putting that request off for a while, but it's gonna be good, I swarit :)

Well, I hope you enjoy fluffy James Bond fiascoes :D

(O)

"Prosecutor Gavin?"

"Ja, Herr Edgeworth?"

"You don't have a case at the moment, do you?"

"Nein. Do you have one for me?"

"Actually, I have a different task for you… You're aware of the complications of the current case?"

"Ja. The whole office has been in an uproar for a few days now."

"Are you aware of the hostage situation?"

"Hostages?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. Someone has taken roughly twenty hostages and is refusing to let them go unless we re-try a case from seven years ago. I have good reason to believe that that particular case is closely associated with the current one that has brought us all so much havoc."

"Do you have the names of the hostages?" _Do I know any of them? _

"We have six names, currently. Cora Upton, Maurice Lewis, Kelsey Barron, Corey Jones, Trucy Wright, and Rel-"

"The fraulein magician?!"

"Yes, unfortunately. Wri- Her father is on the current case, actually. He has some… Added responsibilities, given that he's connected to the hostages."

"Achtung! What can I do?!"

"We need some people to try and spy on the hostages. As far as we know, the kidnapper hasn't harmed any of the hostages, but we need a team to be able to interfere in case she tries anything."

"Why can't we get a team together, and arrest her?"

"We don't want any harm to come to any of the hostages… She might kill one or more of them if we actually went inside of the basement where they're being held. Plus, we are meeting her demands, so we hope that she will release them within a few hours."

"Ach… I can go."

"Thank you, Prosecutor Gavin."

(O)

Klavier wasn't sure what to expect when he snuck inside of the Space Center, but he hadn't expected to find a cute robot guarding the entrance. It wasn't hard to avoid being spotted, but he had to wonder why it had been so easy to get inside. It made him expect some vicious beast inside of the Space Center. He decided that using the elevator to go downstairs would be a bad idea, so he managed to find the stairs. It still wasn't the best way to walk into a criminal's lair, but he had to get down there _somehow. _

He heard voices as soon as he stepped down a stair. The kidnapper wasn't being too strict, considering the loud volume of the hostages. He looked up, and found that the ceiling tiles were removable. He pushed one out, and pulled himself up into the ceiling as quietly as possible. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to use as a light, and he replaced the ceiling tile quietly. He crept on top of the ceiling, carefully avoiding the fragile plates that made up the floor below him. He crept until he could hear voices loudly under him, and he laid across the floor, moving one of the tiles under his face just a crack.

He wasn't quite expecting what he saw. The hostages were crowded into a semi-circle, and Trucy stood on top of a plastic table. It sounded as if the hostages were crying at first, but he eventually changed his mind. _Are they… Laughing? _

"For my next trick… Welcome the amazing Mr. Hat!" she exclaimed happily. Klavier jumped at what he saw, almost falling through the ceiling. A figure popped out at Trucy's side, taking her hat.

"Why hello, ladies and gentlemen! You all look mahvelous today!"

"Mr. Hat! You weren't the next act!" Trucy protested.

"But Miss Trucy, I couldn't keep hidden away from all these lovely people!"

"What are you doing? Get back!"

"Miss Trucy! You can't do this!" Trucy shoved his head down with her hand, only to have the wooden figure pop back up. "You can't keep me away!"

"Mr. Hat, you're being completely disruptive." Klavier turned his attention away from Trucy momentarily, and onto the crowd. All of them were laughing, despite the malevolent situation they were in. _There really is some kind of magic going on. _

"Miss Trucy, you're being quite rude! You need to get your act together!"

"You are my act!"

"Hey, ladies and gentlemen! Do you want to hear a joke?" _Her lips aren't moving at all. She's very good at this. _

"No, Mr. Hat! It's not time yet!"

"How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?"

"Huh. I haven't heard this one, actually. Do you have to cut it up into little bits?"

"No, Miss Trucy! You just have to open up the door, put it inside, and close the door again!"

"That must be a really big refrigerator," Trucy mused. "That was a really bad joke, Mr. Hat. I think I'm going to have to teach you some new ones."

"How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?"

"You open the door, you put the giraffe inside, and you close the door again!"

"Wrong again, Miss Trucy! You open the door, take out the elephant, put in the giraffe, and close the door!"

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

"All of the animal kingdom is joining together for a meeting. Who was late?"

"The slugs?"

"The elephant and the giraffe! They were busy being stuffed into a refrigerator." Trucy laughed. "Now, here's another joke! There's a crocodile infested river, and all you have to get across is a roll of duct tape and a stick. How do you cross?"

"Uh, you hit the crocodiles with the stick, and then duct tape their mouths shut?"

"Nope! All the crocodiles are at the animal kingdom meeting, remember? You drop the duct tape and stick and swim across!"

"Oh!" Trucy exclaimed. The crowd was all laughing at this point, a mixture of the stupid joke and the expressions that Trucy was making.

_They're so happy. _

Klavier watched as Mr. Hat and Trucy argued some more, before he was finally sent back into nothingness. Trucy then pulled some things out of her magic panties, including a toothbrush, a bar of chocolate (which was ultimately tossed to a four year old girl), another pair of panties, and Clonco (He wasn't quite sure how that happened himself, he thought Clonco was at the entrance).

At one point, he even caught a glimpse of the kidnapper herself, laughing at Trucy's act. It didn't seem like a mockery, either—just genuine amusement.

After a few more magic tricks, the kidnapper stepped onto the table next to Trucy.

"I wanted to make a small announcement," she- Klavier could tell a fraulein's voice from a mile away- said somewhat quietly. "I want to allow the little girl and her mom to leave… The toddler." This sparked plenty of reaction from the small crowd. "I don't want her to be too traumatized from this event, really. As for the rest of you… It seems as if the case is going to end well, so you should be able to leave within the hour."

Trucy, who was still on the stage, did the most magical act that Klavier had ever seen—she wrapped her arms around her kidnapper in a tight hug. Her kidnapper seemed surprised too, and Klavier could see moisture in her eyes as she turned away, pointing the young girl and her mother out the door. The mother was crying and smiling.

He had never seen such a heartwarming situation, especially not when kidnapping was involved. There was only explanation for what he could see—Trucy Wright.

Trucy proceeded to do a few more simple magic tricks, and she asked a young girl of about ten to act as her assistant for one of them. Finally, the kidnapper jumped back onto the table. Even from a distance, Klavier could see tears in her eyes, and a bright smile.

"You are all free to go," she said. "The case turned out better than I ever would have imagined."

It was then that Klavier remembered that he had been spying on them the entire time, and he had no idea how to get out without being caught.

All of the hostages left, some quickly, some talking with their new friends. Only Trucy was left, stuffing magic supplies into her hat, boots, and hidden cape pockets. The kidnapper looked at her. "Thank you."

"Huh? Why?"

"You gave those people hope when there shouldn't have been any… And I think you gave me some, too."

"Oh. I'm glad, then."

"You aren't mad at me?" the kidnapper asked curiously.

"Call it a hunch, but I can tell that you didn't mean us any harm. You just wanted to save your brother… Right, Aura?"

"You did know it was me," she thought aloud. "Yes, I wanted to save Simon. He wouldn't have preferred this method, though. It was pretty effective though, if I do say myself."

"So I guess you're going to jail, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe the slammer isn't all that bad. I guess I'll meet some really interesting people."

"You should ask me and Polly to defend you. You may have taken people hostage, but you were the best kidnapper ever," Trucy said with a big grin. Klavier laughed, and his balance shifted. His foot crashed through the a ceiling tile, and he could see Trucy and Aura staring up at his foot.

"It seems like we've got a spy on our hands," Aura finally said. "You can come down, I won't kidnap you." _That's the problem, Fraulein. I don't think I can get down. _Klavier pulled his foot up through the tile, and stood up carefully. He crept along the ceiling carefully, staying on the metal dividers between each tile. He finally approached the stairs, and he pushed a tile to the side, and jumped down. He landed gracefully on the stairs.

"Prosecutor Gavin!" Trucy ran up to him grinning. "What were you doing here?"

"I was supposed to make sure that the kidnapper didn't try to harm anyone, ja? I just ended up staying for the show, I suppose." I flashed my best smile.

"Would you prosecute Miss Aura against me and Polly? It would be just like old times," she grinned back. Aura didn't seem to happy to see them arguing over her fate, as she scowled.

"Apollo's busy with the current case."

"It isn't over?!" Trucy asked.

"Oh, Simon was declared innocent. Athena's still on trial, though," she replied, her expression unreadable.

"But Athena didn't do it!"

"Trust me, that much is clear. But if it wasn't the princess, and it wasn't Simon, it had to be someone. They think it's some Phantom, actually."

"Let's go see the rest of the trial!" Trucy exclaimed.

"Ja, I don't want to miss this. Fraulein, I can take you there. I get a nagging suspicion that as soon as Fraulein Blackquill walks out of here the police will have her against a wall, though."

"Thanks for your confidence."

"Ja, of course. Now let's go."

As soon as they got outside, they were swarmed with all kinds of news people. It probably didn't help that Klavier was still relatively famous, and the other hostages were long gone. Klavier just smiled and waved as questions were shot at him like bullets.

"What did she do to you?!"

"Klavier, what brought you into this situation?"

"How do you know this little girl?"

One of them walked up to Trucy. "What do you have to say about this experience?"

"It was fun," she replied simply.

The two finally managed to reach Klavier's motorcycle. "Have you ever ridden a hog before?"

"No." She didn't seem afraid of it. Klavier passed her a helmet.

"Just wrap your arms around my waist and hold on tight." He stepped onto the bike, and Trucy did the same. Her small arms wrapped around his stomach tightly as he drove off.

"Whoo hoo!" She exclaimed. _Well, someone likes motorcycles. _It didn't take long for them to get to the court house. "That was so much fun!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now, shall we watch the trial?"

"Yeah!"

(O)

"This court finds the defendant Athena Cykes…

**NOT GUILTY**

Everyone was cheering, and Klavier's heart was still beating quickly with the excitement. He missed cases like this.

"That was AMAZING!" Trucy exclaimed.

"You'll want to see Herr Forehead and your father, ja?"

"Oh! They don't know I'm ok! I hope they weren't worried." _I'm sure they were.  
_

"Ja. Well, I should go, fraulein."

"You aren't going to say hi to Polly?"

"Nein. I need to speak with Herr Edgeworth as soon as possible."

"Oh… Then bye, Prosecutor Gavin."

"Thank you, fraulein."

"Huh? For what?"

"You taught me a lot today. You're a very special fraulein, you know."

"Thank you, Prosecutor Gavin!" She looked up at me happily, and I leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. Her grin had gotten larger, if possible.

"Please, I'm not at the bench. Call me Klavier."

"Thanks, Klavier."

"You're welcome. Goodbye, Fraulein. Say hi to Herr Forehead to me."

"I will. Bye!"

She ran off, and I found myself missing the little bit of magic that had just been at my side.


	11. Pearls x Apollo

Hey guys! Sorry I fell off the face of the earth. There was all this stuff and AHHH and I wanted to play Turnabout Succession and AHHH and my brother's friend broke things and AHHH.

Well, here's some Apollo x Pearls. They were my 2nd least favorite (MxF) ship until I wrote this story… Now I like them a whole lot more. So this is in Pearl's perspective, so there was a whole lot of content that was cut out (read the story and this sentence will make sense). In Apollo's perspective, the story would have had a very long, non-romantic part. I think I might write this in Apollo's perspective and post it as a separate story, so look out for that.

Yes, I lied about doing Larris next. I started it, but then I had this FANTASTIC idea of how to get Apollo and Pearls together, and… yeah. I'll work on it now, I promise. Well, enjoy! :D

(O)

I got back to the office pretty quickly after the Phantom trial. It was ok, because Eldoon's noodles were much too salty anyways. Mr. Polly had left the party earlier than anyone else, and I knew that couldn't be a good thing. He seemed sad throughout the entire trial, and I didn't want to leave him alone until I knew what was wrong.

_Maybe he feels guilty about accusing Miss Athena._

When I stepped into the office, Apollo was sitting in a desk chair, his head buried in his arm. "Mr. Polly?" I was pretty sure he was asleep, because he didn't move. However, I decided to pretend that he was awake, just in case he was ignoring me. It was that bluff Eng thing that Mr. Nick always did, and I felt pretty cool. "I know you're awake." I walked over to him, and I saw that his arm was covered in water. "Are you ok? You look like you were crying." _Or drooling. _"Crying isn't something to be embarrassed about. I cried a lot when my mother was put in jail."

"Your mother was put in jail?" he mumbled. His face didn't leave his sleeve, but hearing his voice still felt like an a-com-plesh-mint.

"Yeah. She was an a-com-pliss to two murders," I replied.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Will you show me your face?"

"No."

"Why not? I already know you were crying."

"I probably look like a disaster."

"You were crying. You're supposed to look like a disaster. It's ok." He looked up at me with red eyes, but I'd seen much worse. Like the time when Mr. Nick only bought Maya two burgers. "You don't look too bad."

He wiped his eye with his sleeve. "Yeah, right."

"So why are you crying? You won the case."

"Clay's d-dead."

"Huh? Did you know him?"

"He was my best friend… And I never even got to say goodbye." He let out some kind of choking noise, and a tear slipped down his cheek. Huh, if only there was a spirit medium prodigy in the room.

"Oh, do you want to see him?"

"What kind of question is that?! Yeah, I want to see him! But he's dead!"

"You know how I make money, right?" I couldn't remember the fancy word for "job" that Mr. Edgeworth always said, or I would've used it.

"No."

"I'm a spirit medium. I can channel dead people."

"Channel… Dead people?" He looked kind of lost.

"Yeah! Do you want to see Clay?"

"I… I guess. You can really do that?"

"If someone isn't already channeling him, then yeah."

"H-how?"

"Here, I'll show you!" I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes, entering the spirit world. Hmm. Spirits could be kind of hard to find. I found Mia's spirit pretty quickly, and she pointed out a person's spirit who looked a lot like the picture from the trial. "Um, hi. I'm Pearls."

"Oh, hey! My name's Clay!"

"Um, I'm a spirit medium. Mr. Polly wanted to see you."

"Those exist? Huh, you learn something new every day."

"Do you want to see Mr. Polly?"

"Who's Mr. Polly?" He looked really confused, which was impressive, given how few spirits actually show emotion. "Wait… You don't mean Apollo, do you?"

"Yeah!"

"How the heck does Apollo know a spirit medium?" he laughed.

"Um, I'm the cousin of his boss' special someone. Except they don't know that they're special someones yet." He gave me a confused look.

"So you can take me to see him?"

"Sure, if you want."

"I want to," he said with a bright smile.

"Oh, you'll kind of be in my body though. I hope you don't mind wearing a dress."

"Eh. I've done more embarrassing things in front of Apollo," he laughed.

"Ok, just come here…"

(O)

When I woke up, the whole office was in a circle around me. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"That was amazing, Pearls!" Miss Athena exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"You should be in my magic show," Trucy agreed.

"Why is everyone here?" I asked.

"Apparently everyone wanted to meet my dead best friend," Apollo replied sheepishly. Mr. Nick stood up.

"Well, that was fun. I've got to get back to my paperwork. Thanks for letting us see Clay, Pearls." Trucy whispered something into Athena's ear, and they pounced onto their feet and practically ran out of the room.

"What was that about?" I asked. "As soon as I came back, everybody ran away." It wasn't a good feeling.

"They think you'll make them clean up the office," Apollo joked. "But really, I know that Phoenix was telling the truth, he really did lose track of time. As for Trucy and Athena… Who knows."

"How do you know? Did Mr. Nick give you his Magatama?"

"His Matagawhat?"

"I guess not. How did you know he was telling the truth?"

"My bracelet's kind of a lie detector, in a sense. It didn't go off."

"Huh."

"Wait, you believe me?! Just like that?!"

"Yeah. I have my magatama. Plus, I trust you." I smiled at him sweetly.

"There's a lot I don't know about you, huh?"

"I guess. So, how was seeing Clay?"

"It was incredible. Thank you." He leaned over to hug me, but hesitated. I closed the gap.

"You're welcome. I was glad to. He seemed like a nice person." I leaned away, but a strange part of me wanted to stay in his warm arms.

"Yeah, he was… Is." He smiled warmly.

"If you ever want to see him again, just ask. Or any other spirit."

"Thank you, Pearls… That really did mean a lot to me. It's great being friends with a spirit medium, huh?"

Suddenly, chains appeared in front of him, and one black lock. I'd never seen one before, so it caught me by surprise. Mr. Polly was hiding something, deep inside. I knew I needed to be careful, but I knew that it would just take some gentle mental untangling to remove the lock. (At least I hoped).

"Is there anything less great about it?"

"Huh? No. Why?" He looked at me, clearly confused.

"You seem to be hiding something," I replied carefully.

"I am?"

"You said that it's great being friends with a spirit medium, but that's not true."

"I think it is…"

I looked up at him, pouting. This was going nowhere fast. Suddenly, the black lock began to shake, and I wondered what was happening. It slowly began to change colors, and it became red. More chains appeared around him, and three more locks popped up. _What on earth is going on here?! _

I looked up at Apollo's face, which looked somewhat red itself. "Did you think of something?"

"N-no." he stammered.

"You just realized something… Something big, didn't you?"

"Wh-what?! No. What makes you think that?"

"I have my magatama, and it says that you're lying." A lock shattered. _Well, that was easy. _

"If you're going to accuse me of lying, what exactly am I lying about?"

"I can't tell exactly what you were lying about, but I can tell why you're lying to me."

"Oh really?"

"You're embarrassed. When you realized that thing, you started blushing really bad." Another lock shattered.

"What was there to be embarrassed about?" 

"Huh. Maybe Clay did something embarrassing in my body, and you remembered about it?" Apollo laughed.

"No. If that were true, Trucy would have told you about it as soon as you woke up." I could feel a sharp pain in my soul, and I knew that I had messed something up.

"Ok, so you aren't embarrassed about Clay… Hm. You were talking about me when you lied at first… Are you embarrassed about me?" Another lock shattered. _Yes! _

"Wh-why would I possibly be embarrassed about you?" _Huh. Well, Clay didn't do anything too strange in my body, so that's not it. Let's see… What did he say originally? It was great being friends with a spirit medium? _

"Let's see… You lied about it being great to be friends with me, and now you're embarrassed. If I put two and two together, I think you like me!" I stated triumphantly. The last lock shattered, and his face looked really red. I guess I shouldn't have said that he liked me so loudly, since we were in the middle of the office. _Wait. Apollo likes me? Like, the same way that Mr. Nick likes Mystic Maya?_

"I… er…" Apollo stammered.

"Was I right?" I had never been very good with my magatama, to be completely honest.

"I… I think so?" He replied, blushing furiously. He began to play with his hair nervously.

"You mean… You want to be my special someone?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean, not no, but I don't know if I'm ready to say yes or if you even want me to say yes because you're younger than me and I'm kind of weird and I…"

I really wanted to make him stop talking, so I did the most logical thing I could think of, considering that me and Trucy had a romance movie marathon the day before. I kissed him. For two seconds, I think he was trying to talk into my mouth before he realized what was happening. Then he sat there in shock, until he finally got his act together and kissed me back. Before that moment, I wasn't even all that sure that I liked him. Now, as his strong arms wrapped around me and his warm lips met mine, I was positive. I wanted Apollo to be my special someone. We broke apart, and Apollo held me and stared into my eyes in complete shock. His eyes were a rich brown, and I could sort of see my reflection in them. A few seconds later, he laughed.

"I'm so weird."

"I know a lot of weird people." I smiled. His face came towards mine again, and our lips met. My heart was beating pretty fast, and I could feel my senses fading.

Even with my senses fading, I could still hear the office door swing open.

"Oooooohhhhh!" Trucy called with a grin.

"What is it?" Athena asked. "Oh my gosh! That's adorable!"

Apollo jumped away from me as if I were poisonous, and I could feel my face flood with warmth. Trucy grinned, and ran into Mr. Nick's office. He came back out with her immediately, smirking.

"So, Pearls. Trucy told me that you have a special someone?"

I knew that I would regret making fun of him and Maya one day.

Nah, it was worth it.

Apollo didn't seem to think so, though. "W-wait! Everyone, stop!"

"Wow, Apollo. How long have you had this little crush for, anyways? I didn't know Pearls was your type."

"OBJECTION!" Apollo's Chords of Steel rang through the office.

"Overruled," Athena cut in.

"So I guess our plan was foiled, huh Athena?" Trucy laughed.

"I don't like the sound of this," Apollo retorted.

"No, Operation Appearlo was a complete success, but we didn't really do anything," Athena replied.

"I was so excited to meddle, too," Trucy protested.

"You don't need to meddle with true love, I guess," Athena replied.

"So Pearls, how does it feel to finally have a special someone of your own?" Mr. Nick teased.

"I like it," I replied.

"Aww!" Trucy and Athena exclaimed.

"Can everyone just leave? Please? This has been a really long day. You can make fun of me all you want tomorrow, but I just want a few minutes to…"

There was only one logical thing to do in that situation.

I shut him up.


	12. Larry x Iris

Hey guys! I'm loving this story, it's a whole lot of fun. Keep the requests coming! :D

Well, as promised, here's some Larry X Iris :)

BTW, it's my headcanon that Larry is actually a good artist. I mean, look at his Thinker Clock that he made. And he paints a really pretty picture in AI:ME 2, if you've played that. Just keep that in mind.

(O)

Larry had actually gotten somewhat good at painting.

He wasn't terrible to begin with. All right, Dusky Bridge wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but he had 10 minutes to paint it, and he had just woken up. Now, Laurice Deauxnim was beginning to make a name for himself. He painted mostly people, with the occasional nature scene (when the only subject for him to paint happened to be Sister Bikini).

Something about being surrounded by pictures of his friends helped him to feel a little less alone.

Nick had dropped off the face of the earth, and Edgey had, too. The only person he really knew anymore was Sister Bikini. He should have left a year ago, after Iris was put in jail for being a murder accomplice, but something bound him from leaving.

He didn't belong out there.

Every person he'd ever met seemed miles away, and he was tired of chasing after people just to catch their attention for a moment. He wanted someone to care about him for once, and to have them chase after him. But no one ever did.

He never stopped painting, though. Spirit mediums came to visit from time to time, and Nick's little friends were always a good sight to see. Pearls always let him paint her, and she seemed happy enough to see the end product. They would talk about anything and everything while he worked.

"Mr. Larry, are you going to ever get a special someone?" she asked one day.

"I don't know, Pearly. I've had a lot of special someones, but I was never very special to them."

"I think you'd be a great special someone, Mr. Larry!"

"I'm not. All my girlfriends dumped me."

"I think you just need a good girlfriend," she replied.

He never thought that a person like that would come.

(O)

Spending a year in prison had been unpleasant, she knew for sure. She had hoped that she could restore her relationship with Phoenix, but he had lost his attorney's badge, and he seemed like a completely different person than he once was. He didn't love her anymore.

She wasn't quite sure where to return to. Hazakura, she assumed. She didn't really belong anywhere else, after all. But something inside told her that locking herself back there was only going to lead to her feeling more lonely.

It was still probably better than jail, though.

When she returned home, she was greeted by four familiar faces: Sister Bikini, Maya, Pearls, and Laurice. Maya had brought burgers to celebrate, and Iris didn't think that anything had tasted better in her whole life. The night was quiet, but it wasn't the trapped silence of her prison cell. It felt peaceful.

Everyone decided to give her a welcome home present. At first she had rejected them, but it didn't take much to change her mind. Pearls gave her a flower pin, saying that her hood needed some color, and Maya gave her a gift card to go buy burgers. Sister Bikini claimed that she hadn't known that they were giving her gifts, and she would come up with something by the end of the week. Then she turned to Laurice.

"I know it's not much… But I painted something for you." He handed her a canvas with a cloth over it. Remembering his last painting, she braced herself for the worst. However, when she unwrapped the gift, she found a beautiful portrait of herself.

"Wow…" she breathed. "Laurice, this is wonderful. I didn't know you could do this."

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"I didn't say you were. I think you're very good."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Laurice."

"I have a favor. Can you… Not call me that anymore?"

"Why? You seemed mad when anyone tried to call you anything different just a while ago."

"It's just that… I'm done running away from myself. It got really tiring because no matter where I go, Larry Butz follows me. It seems like the people who give up on themselves end up giving up a lot more."

"I think you're right. I pretended to be Dahlia… And look where that got me."

"You've got no reason to give up on yourself, Iris."

"Why not? My sister's a mass murderer, and I'm the only living Fey without ESP. I'm surrounded by power, but I'm useless."

"You're the nicest girl I've ever met, and you're absolutely beautiful."

"Your best friend was almost killed because of me!"

"You were trying to save him."

"But he's gone now."

"I'm not." I looked at Larry in the eyes, and it was the most serious I'd ever seen him. "I waited all of this time… Hoping that I could see you again."

"You admitted to loving me, didn't you? A year ago?"

"I never stopped," he replied, blushing slightly.

"Why?"

"You're honest, you care about people, and you're beautiful. You're everything I've ever looked for in a girl."

She brought her lips to his, and after a moment of surprise, he kissed back. The winter air was freezing, so the warmth of his touch was welcome. She could feel his heart pounding against hers. When they broke apart, she rested her chin on his shoulder, simply basking in his presence.

"Thank you," she finally said.

"Why?"

"I finally feel like I belong somewhere."

"Me, too."

Neither of them felt quite so lonely after that day.


	13. Ema x Clay

Hey guys! I kinda broke my computer. All of my stories have to be written at school now. It's a struggle. But if I'm slow to post things, that's why.

Well, I think I need some OTP to cure my fanfiction withdrawals. So here's some Clayma for you ;)

*I forgot part of the story. Sorry. I fixed it XD*

(O)

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, all right?" Ema nodded, and drove away.

_What have I done?!_

She should probably explain. Yesterday, Apollo had asked her how much she knew about non-forensic sciences. Obviously she was a scientific genius, so she told him so. He then betted her a bag of Snackoos that he knew more about astronomy than she did. She denied it, of course. Nobody could best her at science—especially Apollo.

"So, how much does a space suit cost?" he had asked.

"3,000 dollars."

"11 million. What does a black hole release?"

"Nothing. Not even light can escape." _Duh._

"It releases huge amounts of electricity and radiation." _Ok, he made that up._

"Ok, you're just coming up with questions that nobody could answer." He smirked.

"Then ask me some."

"How many Earths could fit into the Sun?"

"Roughly a million."

"What's in the middle of most galaxies?"

"A black hole."

"How long is a year on Mercury?" Ok, she didn't actually know the answer to that, so clearly Apollo wouldn't eith-

"59 days."

Scientifically speaking, Ema did not like being outsmarted. Especially by that little kid who ran around her crime scenes in red with his little magician friend.

This was how she ended up at the space center today. She had tried looking up facts on the internet, but they all had to do with "nebulas" and "ailerons" and words that she was pretty sure were made up. She hoped that by going to the Space Center, she could learn enough to outsmart Apollo.

She immediately found a young man sitting on a couch, staring at his phone. She had no idea where to go in the space center, and she needed directions.

"Uh, hi. I was wondering if there was some place around here where I could learn a little more about space." The man looked up and grinned.

"You've come to the right place!" He jumped off the couch. "This entire place is a galactic learning opportunity!" _He's more hyper than Trucy._

"Well, I don't know much about Space besides what I learned in school. I'm a scientist, so I figured that I should learn a little more about what goes on outside of our planet." He laughed.

"You're trying to impress a guy, aren't you?"

"No."

"You totally are!" he laughed. "Ok, maybe in a platonic way, but you're trying to impress someone."

"Can I just meet someone who can teach me about space?!"

"Like an astronaut?"

"Yes. Like an astronaut." The man bowed.

"Clay Terran, Ace Astronaut!" He smirked, crossing his arms. It seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on why.

"_You've_ been in space?!"

"Well, no. But I will soon. They're planning a launch to take place in a few months, and I'll be going then."

"_You're _going to space?"

"Yep. So, what do you want to know about space?"

"Why a kid is allowed to become an astronaut." He looked about 17, 18 years old.

"Hey, I'm twenty three. I had to go through college and training and all of that." She looked at him skeptically.

"So you can teach me about space?"

"Sure. You'll have that guy swooning in no time." _**Ka-tonk. **_"Hey, what was that for?"

"I throw food when I'm annoyed."

"Oh, so I wasn't being annoying before?"

"No, I just didn't find you to be worth wasting food over."

"Oh, I've gained status in the past few minutes?"

She was going to murder him before the end of the day, she could just tell.

(O)

"So the starlight I'm seeing is actually millions of years old?"

"Yeah. Me and an old friend of mine have always had a joke that when you wish upon a star, it's probably dead, just like your dreams." The two of them laughed.

"Wait. Can you tell me anything about black holes? I think I need to know that."

"Well, what do you know about them?"

"They're holes. And they're black. And they're in space. And their gravity is so great that not even light can escape."

"Yeah, there's a lot for you to learn. Did you know that black holes make time stop?"

"How does that work?!"

"They're pretty strong."

"I kind of got that."

"They can apparently evaporate, too. They release radiation, and after millions of years, the black hole can vanish."

"But wouldn't the black hole just suck all the radiation back up?"

"That's what I thought," he laughed.

"There's a lot that I didn't know about space," she breathed. "It's a lot cooler than my eighth grade teacher made it sound."

"Isn't it?" Clay had a far-off look in his eyes. _He looks kind of cute. _Ema blushed at the thought, and awkwardly looked at her watch to distract herself. She was _not_going to swoon over some guy she had never met before.

"Oh, I have to leave." She frowned. For once, she was actually having a good time.

"You do?" he frowned too. "I had a lot of fun with you today, you know."

"I did, too," she said with a slight smile, before turning to leave.

"Wait!" He ran up beside her. "Can I walk you to your car?"

"Sure, if you want."

"Thanks." They had only walked a couple of steps before she tripped over something.

"Ack!" She found a small rocket on the ground. "Some Hydroxyacelunodosetrase WILL be spilled today," she grumbled. Clay laughed.

"You never told me about your kind of science. You could teach me a few things, I'd bet. Are you a chemist?"

"Er, I'm into forensics. Except I didn't get the position I wanted at the precinct, and they stuck me over in Criminal Affairs as a detective. I still do all the science that I can, though."

"That takes some serious dedication, huh? Wait… You're a Los Angeles detective, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know Apollo?" She cringed.

"How do you know Apollo?"

"We've been best friends since middle school," he laughed. "He used to come down here all the time to hang out with me and Mr. Starbuck."

"Wait… So THAT'S why he knows so much about space?"

"Yeah?" He looked kind of confused. "Wait. You were trying to impress Apollo?! Oh my gosh!" He began cracking up.

"NO! I was NOT trying to impress him! I just got mad because he claimed to be as good at science as me!"

"So you need revenge, huh?" Clay had an evil glint in his eye, and Ema didn't have a problem with this.

"Yes."

"I know what you could do that would make him really mad," he said as they approached the car.

"What?" She asked. Clay hesitated for a moment.

"You could go on a date with his best friend."

"Are you asking me out?"

"Kind of."

"For the scientific purpose of revenge, I guess." _And for a few other purposes._

"Really?!" He grinned.

"Yeah. Where should we meet?"

"I'll pick you up. I want to surprise you."

Ema didn't know how she felt about this.

(O)

_What in the galaxy am I supposed to wear?!_

_Crap. I sound like him._

_Just calm down and find some clothes, Ema._

_But I have no idea where he's taking me! What if we go to some fancy restaurant and you're wearing really cheap clothes?_

_How much money do you think he has?!_

Ema decided to settle with a pink shirt and navy skirt, with her lab coat, of course.

It was five minutes after 7, and it was at that moment that Ema realized that she hadn't told Clay where she lived.

_Crappiest girlfriend of the year: Ema Skye!_

_Wait. I'm NOT his girlfriend._

_Although I'm not entirely opposed to it._

_I need to get a grip on myself._ _Just call him and tell him your address._

_I don't know his number!_

_Ask Apollo for it. _

As much as she didn't want to have to ask him, she picked up her phone anyways.

"Apollo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have Clay's number?"

"Why?"

Ema knew from experience that lying to Apollo was a very bad idea. She wasn't sure how, but every time a person lied, he caught them. She tried to tell the truth as dishonestly as she could.

"Well, I met him-" All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. "Bye." She slammed down the phone guiltlessly and ran over to the door. "Hey, Clay!"

Something they both had in common: Neither of them ever took off their jackets. Clay was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, with his signature navy jacket over it. "Hey Ema! Sorry I was late, I was trying to figure out where you lived, and-"

"It's all right, I should've told you where I lived." They began walking towards his car when she realized something. "How did you figure out where my house was, anyways?!"

"Apollo told me."

"How did he figure out where my house was?!"

"I don't know." He opened up the passenger door to his car and invited her in. She liked gentlemen quite a bit, who were simmerous, stern of wit, and furrowed of brow. Clay didn't quite meet these characteristics, but Ema found that she liked him a lot more that way. He got into the driver's seat. "Can I blindfold you? I really want this to be a surprise."

Scientifically, strange men and blindfolds can make a hazardous chemical reaction.

It was a good thing that Clay wasn't a stranger, huh?

She put on the blindfold, and felt the world around her move as Clay pressed on the gas. She did _not _like the feeling of not being able to see. At one point, Clay slammed on the brakes, and Ema had a small heart attack.

"We're here!" he exclaimed.

"That was absolutely terrifying," she complained. She made a move to take off her blindfold.

"Can you keep it for a while longer?"

"Why?!"

"We have to walk a little bit before we get there."

"Fine," she huffed. His hands fell onto her shoulders and he pushed her gently. She cringed.

"It's ok, I won't hit you against anything."

She didn't know why she trusted him, but she did. She began to walk at a normal pace, enjoying the feeling of Clay's warm hands guiding her. It felt safe, in a strange way.

"Stop! Stopstopstopstopstop!" He jerked on her shoulders.

"What?!"

"There was a rock."

"Are we going to get there before I die?!"

"We're almost there." They kept walking, and Ema could tell that they seemed to be climbing a hill. "Ok, stop. Like now. EMA FOR SATURN'S SAKE STOP." He grabbed her around the stomach.

"What did I do this time?!"

"You almost caught yourself on fire," he said, releasing her.

"What?!"

"You can take your blindfold off." Ema ripped the cloth off her head. She was met with a romantic sight- there was a blanket at the top of the hill, and it had a few candles on top (one of which was hazardously close to Ema's foot). She also smelled something that she liked.

"Wow." Looking a little closer, she saw a bag. "What's that?"

"There's a popular burger place by the Space Center. I picked up a few burgers."

"This is amazing, Clay."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," he replied, grinning. They sat down on the blanket, and Ema tore into a burger as ladylike as possible, which was the equivalent of a teenage boy. Clay had about as bad of manners as her, and it was kind of funny to watch the other eat like starved dogs.

"That was great. I haven't had such a good burger for ten years."

"When was that?"

"My sister was accused of murder, and Mr. Wright helped her get a not guilty. We went and got burgers to celebrate- he knows all the best burger spots in town for no reason that he'd explain."

"Wow, your sister was accused of murder? That sounds rough."

"Yeah, but I'm kind of glad she was- she had been blackmailed for years, and Mr. Wright set her free, in a way."

"Are you and Mr. Wright good friends?"

"We keep in touch, but we aren't as close as we used to be. He's still a friendly face, though."

"It's cool to be friends with a famous person, huh?"

"No. My boss is famous, and he's a total fop."

"Klavier Gavin?"

"Yes. The fop," Ema grunted. Clay laughed.

"You don't seem to like him too much, huh?"

"No. He was the one who got rid of Mr. Wright's attorney badge."

"Didn't Apollo prove that it was with good intentions?"

"Hell is paved with good intentions."

"That was blunt."

"I think I hate him just to hate him now, actually. He just annoys me, really."

"Poor guy," he laughed. "I wouldn't want you and your hydroxystuff to hate me."

"Nah, I wouldn't dare attack a famous prosecutor, or I'd be in jail faster than Apollo's witnesses."

The sky was beginning to look dark as the sun set under the horizon. Ema could see a single star in the sky. "Oh, it's the North Star," Clay commented.

"You know the names of all the stars?"

"Only a few. The North Star's easy because it's big, and it's in the north." They sat for a moment, silently admiring the spot of light. "You never did tell me anything about forensic science."

"Well, the only things I do on a regular basis are luminol and fingerprint tests. There's a few others, like footprint molding and using my x-ray machine, but I don't do those too often."

"How do you do a luminol test?"

"You spray it where you think blood might be, and if you're wearing special glasses, the luminol will look blue."

"Like the glasses you're wearing?" Clay grinned, and snatched the glasses from her head, putting them on himself. He looked like a total idiot, and Ema couldn't help but laugh.

"Give those back."

"Spray some luminol, I want to see."

"We aren't going to find blood around here. Plus, it's too dark. We would need to be able to see the blue, after all."

"Aww," he whined. Ema took her glasses off his face. "Wait, I want to see you wear them." She put them to her own eyes. "They make you look pretty cute."

"They're basically nerd glasses, but pink."

"Exactly." Ema needed to find a way to change the subject quick, because the way his eyes were staring into hers was far too attractive for her to resist for much longer.

"I could show you how to do a fingerprint test."

"Really?" He looked pretty excited about it. _As he should be. _

"Yeah. First you have to find a print."

"All right..." He looked around.

"It doesn't have to be difficult. Just use one of the candles."

"B-but I know they're my prints." _He was abnormally hesitant._

"Then prove it."

He blew out a candle, and held it up. "Ok, what do I do?" Ema pulled a canister of aluminum powder out of her bag. "You carry that stuff with you?"

"You always have to be prepared." She unscrewed the lid. "All right, just pour the powder on the candle... No! Not that much!"

"Sorry."

"All right, now blow it off."

"What was the point of that?!"

"The powder will stick to the prints."

"Oh." He blew on the candle.

"Ok, that's a good print."

"Now what?"

"I have a little device that can match prints..." She scrutinized the print, although it was hard to see in the dark. "This isn't yours. It looks familiar though." She pulled her fingerprint analyzer out of her bag, and started sorting through prints. "Not Apollo... Not Prosecutor Gavin... What?!"

"Heh heh. I got a little help."

"But from her, of all people?!"

"Hey, she's a total romantic."

"Her?! No she's not."

"She's a teenage girl. They're all romantics."

"No they're not. The only love I had when I was her age was science."

"See? You're a complete romantic."

"Shut up."

Ema looked one more time at the picture of Trucy before she turned off her device. "Hey, you should blow out the rest of the candles," Clay suggested.

"Why?"

"There's a reason I brought you out here." That sounded really suspicious.

"Why?"

"Just blow out the candles." She hesitantly obeyed, and Clay laid down on the blanket.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Look up."

When Ema turned to face the sky, she was breathtaken. There weren't just a few stars- There were thousands upon thousands. The sky lit up beautifully, little points of light clumped into groups. One group was filled with color.

"And that's a nebula," he pointed out.

"Clay... This is incredible."

"I know." _So humble. _

She laid down next to him, her head on his shoulder. Scientifically, it was because she was kind of cold and he was warm. It had nothing to do with the feeling of her heart pounding or her intense need to be close to him.

Science failed her in the next moment.

She didn't know what events transpired between the moment of her laying against him and the moment when his lips met hers, but they weren't very scientific. He was kneeling over her, and the back of her head was being gently pressed against the blanket. She pressed back, for no reason that science could explain except that it seemed like some sort of instinct. The moment his lips left hers, she had a feeling of emptiness that she couldn't quite explain. He was smiling, and they both laughed. She hadn't felt so happy in a long time. When his lips met hers again, she finally came up with a reasonable explanation.

Scientifically speaking, she was star-struck.

(O)

"Hey Ema."

"Hello, Apollo," she said, smirking. This was going to be good.

"You still owe me Snackoos."

"Hmm? No I don't."

"I know more about space than you."

"Since when?"

"Did you go on Google yesterday and look up space facts?"

"Oh, I did more than that."

"So tell me. How long will Neil Armstrong's footprints stay on the moon?"

"Roughly a hundred million years. There's micrometeorites that will make them disappear eventually, but that takes a long time," Ema replied. Apollo winced.

"Hey, Apollo. If we caught all of the solar energy that hits the Earth in one hour, how long could we power all of the electronics on Earth?"

"I'm going to go with a day."

"Over a year."

"That's not possible."

"How much of our Solar System's mass is made up by the sun?"

"70%."

"99%."

"Argh! You're the one making up the Solar System's mass!"

"Oh, am I now?" Oh gosh, this felt good.

"What did you do to learn about all of this, anyways?"

"Oh, I started dating an astronaut. His name's Clay. Isn't he a friend of yours?"

"I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"That's not a good thing to say in front of a detective with handcuffs." Apollo stormed off grumpily, and she couldn't help but laugh. She pulled out her phone.

_I think I broke Apollo._

**Oh, it'll get a lot funnier. Especially considering that I've got Trucy to help us out. **

_I love you. _

**I know ;)**


	14. Klavier x Athena

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in like a week. I have AP tests and exams and math and ahhhh and trips to Indiana and more ahhh.

Fun fact: Even though half the stuff I write is romance, I've never had a real boyfriend. Although... Well... Let's not get into that. Let's just say my love life is exciting XD

Enjoy! :D

(O)

I'd heard that Robin Newman had finally become a prosecutor, so I was walking through the Prosecutor's Building trying to find her new office. Of course, I'd managed to get really lost. Currently, I was walking down a long hallway with lots of doors, listening for shouting. Unfortunately, not even my ears could pick up her voice. I stopped and closed my eyes, listening for any kind of sound. I could hear papers rustling, an open window, a noisy fan… _Is that a guitar?_

I walked towards the sound of music until I was standing in front of a door. I closed my eyes again, and I listened to the sweet sounding melody.

_Look at me now_

_I was so strong but now I'm weak._

_I felt so free but now my hands are bound_

_I've done everything I've always done_

_So how am I different now?_

I sat transfixed by the beautiful sound. I didn't recognize the voice, but I could tell they were a male. I felt an urge to knock on the door, but it didn't seem like a great idea. The only thing that kept me from leaving was the overwhelming amount of sadness I could sense.

_Look at you now_

_You used to smile, and it felt so sweet._

_You were so happy, with the world to gain._

_But you've changed in every way for me_

_So how are you still the same? _

Before I was entirely aware of what I was doing, my hand had silently turned the doorknob. A man sat in the corner of the room, cradling a guitar in his lap. He was watching his own fingers, completely unaware of his audience. I vaguely remembered him. _Prosecutor Gavin, was it? _

"_Are you ok?" _Widget bleeped.

Oops.

I heard a hand hit his guitar, immediately stopping the music. "I wasn't aware that I had visitors."

"I'm really sorry I was walking through the hall and I heard music playing and it was really pretty and-"

"You could hear me?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I have this room soundproofed."

"I have really good hearing."

"Ach, you're Fraulein Cykes, ja?"

"Ja," I replied with a grin.

"I suppose that makes sense. Achtung, you should have knocked."

"Eh heh heh… Yeah…"

"Ja, I can forgive you this once. Was there anything that you needed of me?" He had a bright smile on his face, but his sadness was unbearable. I was about to cry just listening to his voice.

"Not really. I just heard your music, and I really liked it."

"Danke."

"Gern geschehen." German really came in handy once in a while. "You seem… kind of sad. Not just kind of, but really, really sad."

"I'm perfectly all right, Fraulein."

"Are you going through a tough break up or something? Or a bad case?"

"I'm doing better than ever, Fraulein." I sighed, and turned on Widget. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some conclusive evidence to prove my point." I went through the last few minutes worth of conversation until I got to his song, and as soon as I went through it, Widget entered overload mode. The sadness reading filled the screen with flashing blue light. Now all I had to do was find the cause of the sadness.

_But you've changed in every way for me_

_So how are you still the same? _

A picture of a person popped up on the screen. Most of the time, people in the mood matrix were silhouettes or blurred, but a very clear picture of a person popped up. He had his hair styled in the same way as Klavier, but he wore glasses. He looked slightly older than Klavier, and paler, too. Otherwise, they looked very similar.

"Your brother?"

"Ja, I have one. I visited him today. What is your point?"

"He's the one making you sad."

"Nein, I'm not sad, Fraulein. Why would seeing my brother would make me sad?"

That was the opening she needed. She had been waiting for him to say "brother". Widget clearly showed a picture of the strange man, only in handcuffs this time.

"He's in jail?"

"Ach, Herr Forehead must have told you."

"Apollo knows your brother?"

"Ja, they are… Acquainted." _You just love giving out information, don't you? _"If Herr Forehead didn't tell you, who did?"

"I have really good hearing, remember?"

"You aren't a mind reader, though."

"I can pick up emotions and images from the sound of a person's voice."

"That's… a unique ability."

"Yeah. My necklace helps me to process all of the information, so I use this screen a lot." I pressed a button, and the screen disappeared. I realized that my feet REALLY hurt from standing in place for too long, so I sat on the floor across from him. "So, tell me about your brother."

"He's dead."

"Huh?"

"He was on death row. They executed him. I watched him die today." Images flashed in my mind of how close my almost-brother had gotten to the noose, and I shivered.

"W-was he innocent?"

"Nein."

"What did he do?"

"That I know of? He murdered two, almost murdered another, forged evidence, committed perjury, obstruction of justice, and he caused the dark age of the law."

"Wasn't that the Phantom?"

"The phantom helped. But Wright's disbarment started it all, and my brother was the cause of that."

"I... I never knew much about that."

"He was a monster."

"It seems like you really cared about him."

"Nein. Like I said, he-"

"You wrote a song about how much his betrayal hurt you. And you were just singing it."

"Ach..." He looked down at the floor. "I need some alone time, ja?" I felt an incredible amount of discord.

"As a psychologist, I wouldn't recommend that."

"As a prosecutor, I recommend that you leave my office. Please, Fraulein."

"You've spent enough time alone."

"What are you talking about? I'm famous. Being alone is a rare treasure, ja?"

"You need someone who really cares about you. Not someone who uses you."

"Fraulein, you're almost a perfect stranger."

"I can hear the sadness in your heart. And I don't want you to have to struggle through this alone anymore. It doesn't matter who you are, you're hurting, and I care about you."

"Why are you different than anyone else?"

"Like, different from your fangirls?"

"Ja."

"Uh, well... I'm not asking for your autograph, for one. I'm not going to run back from the office screaming to Apollo about how I met THE Klavier Gavin."

"Ja, Herr Forehead wouldn't react well to that one."

"I will admit, I am a girl, and I DID kind of break into your office. But I broke in because you're a human being with emotions, not some god of rock."

"So you broke in because you wanted to cheer me up, and not simply because I'm attractive?"

"Yes."

"_That doesn't mean you aren't hot, though," _Widget bleeped. I could feel my cheeks burning, and Klavier laughed.

"What does that thing do?"

"Uh, it tends to say what I'm thinking. Especially what I don't want to say out loud."

"So you think I'm an attractive human being in need of cheering up?"

"Yes."

"So how do you plan on cheering me up, exactly?"

"I have no idea," I replied. He sighed.

"You really are something else, ja?"

"I guess."

"I can think of a way that you could cheer me up."

"How?"

"When I met you at Themis, I couldn't stop thinking about you, ja? You were kind, and funny, and you teased Herr Forehead with me. And you ended up finding my mentor's murderer, as well."

"I don't see where you're going with this."

"Nein, Me neither. I suppose... Just your company is nice." The more he spoke of me, the more joy I could feel coming from his heart.

"Wait. You? And me?"

"I don't see where you're going with this."

"Me neither." I looked into his very attractive blue eyes.

"_Ich liebe dich." _I blushed furiously, covering Widget with one hand.

"Ach, it speaks German."

"Widget seems to be the only one who's quite sure what's going around here," I mumbled awkwardly. I looked into his smiling sapphire eyes. Geez, he was hot. _Widget. Widget. You haven't spoken yet, but shut up. _

"_I need to shut up!" _Widget bleeped. With that, Klavier laughed so hard that his guitar slid out of his lap and into my shin.

"Widget really needs a mute button."

"Nein, if you get to listen to my heart, I get to listen to yours."

"Your heart sounds a lot happier now."

"Your heart's pretty amusing," he replied. Well, my heart was pounding now. He was gazing into my eyes intensely, and I wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on. But I think I was dizzy, because it looked like his head was getting bigger. Or closer. _Wait, he is getting closer. His lips are touching mine. KLAVIER GAVIN IS KISSING ME. _

I could hear his heart pounding just as hard as mine. I pressed back once I realized what was going on. His lips were warm and smooth. I couldn't register anything but his lips on mine and his heart, pounding with joy, as I was left completely senseless. When his lips left mine, I sat gazing into his eyes.

"Your eyes are so beautiful," he finally said.

"I was kind of thinking the same thing," I breathed. He smiled, the most genuine I'd seen from him- or anyone- all day.

"Ich liebe dich auch." I leaned in to kiss him again, and he let out a quiet "oomph". Suddenly, the door busted open behind us.

"HEEEEY, MAAAAAN! Have you seen Athena?! She is L-A-T-E! She sai- O-M-G. ARE YOU TWO KISSING?!"

"Not anymore," Klavier laughed after his lips tore from mine. I sat completely shell-shocked.

"I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL JUNIPER! She'll be so H-A-P-P-Y! We've wanted to get you two together for such a long time!"

I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that last comment before she went rushing down the hall, but I don't think it was a good feeling.

"Where were we?" Klavier asked.

I loved him.

"_I love you." _

No matter how awkward I might be.


	15. Franziska x Larry

Hey guys! So, I got my first M/M request. (That took a really long time, I'm surprised). Here's how I'm going to go with this: There are a lot of extremely creepy M/M pairings, and I don't want to write the weird ones. So please, unless it's your OTP, I'd prefer straight relationships. Thanks.

Today, though, is going to be Larry and Franziska. Some of you wanted crack, some of you didn't, so… Yeah. I'm just going to improvise.

(O)

I never thought a whip could be used like this.

She hooked me around my waist, and pulled me towards her. Her lips crashed into mine, and the sloppy, passionate kiss left me breathless. "Mmm, yes, you fool," she said as we broke apart. I went in for another kiss, and she responded eagerly. As we broke apart, her teeth gently closed around my bottom lip, stretching it towards her. "Larry," she called.

"What is it, babe?"

"Larry!"

"What is it?"

"Larry! It's time for breakfast! Wake up!"

I opened my eyes to find a pillow being hurled at me. Phoenix was standing in the door.

Oh, right. I was staying at the Wright's house for the week.

"I'm up, I'm up! Geez, Nick!"

"Are you sure, babe?"

"Did I say that out loud?" I groaned.

"Yes. Who exactly were you dreaming about? It had better not be my daughter, or I'll be defending myself in a murder case."

"No, it's not her. It's another chick."

"It had better be. Trucy made pancakes. And you had better at least pretend that you like them."

"Are they going to be like the omelets she made yesterday?"

"She likes peanut butter, and she likes chocolate, and she likes potato chips, and she likes cherry pie filling, and she likes pickles, and she likes omelets. She just doesn't like them all together."

"I don't, either."

"I think the pancakes should be halfway normal. I didn't see any farfetched ingredients."

I staggered out of bed, leaving my dreams of Franzie behind. I stumbled into the kitchen to find a ten year old girl looking at me, excitedly. "Hi, Mr. Larry! I made you breakfast!"

"Oh, you did? That's great." I looked down at my plate of pancakes. Huh. They did look pretty normal. I cut a piece off with my fork, and took a bite. It was terrible. I choked, and Phoenix glared at me. "Can you get me a glass of water, Trucy? These pancakes are so good, I let them go down the wrong pipe."

"I knew that they'd be yummy! I added a whole bottle of vanilla!"

"Trucy loves her vanilla," Phoenix added.

"So, Daddy, what are we going to do today?" the little demon asked.

"Oh, well Edgeworth and Franziska are going off on an another Interpol mission today. They'll be leaving soon. We're going to the airport to see them go."

"They're leaving again? How long are they gonna be gone?" I asked.

"They didn't say. Anywhere from a month to a year," Phoenix replied, choking down a pancake with a smile.

"Aww, but Mr. Edgeworth is so much fun!" Trucy whined.

"You have an interesting definition of fun, kid," I replied.

"So Larry, you're coming with, aren't you?" Phoenix asked.

"Of course, Nick! What kind of friend do you think I am?!"

"I plead the fifth," he retorted.

"What's the fifth?" Trucy asked.

"It's the right to remain silent," Phoenix replied.

"Oh." She stuffed a pancake in her cheeks, and she strongly resembled a chipmunk.

"So, we should get going," Phoenix said eventually.

"But you guys only had one pancake!" Trucy grumbled.

"I'm not very hungry," I replied. "But they were very good." She glared at me.

"You're lying."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"Your right eye twitches whenever you lie. Plus, my pancakes tasted gross," she smirked.

"Nick! What's up with your kid?! I don't twitch my eye when I lie! And I wasn't lying!"

"Hee hee, your eye twitched again." Trucy grinned innocently.

"Trucy's got a built in lie detector. She's pretty good at finding these kinds of things," Phoenix added.

"Daddy, you should get us McDonald's on the way to the airport," Trucy said.

"I agree."

(O)

After getting two McMuffins and a happy meal ("But Daddy! You never get me happy meals! How am I supposed to be happy if I never get to eat a happy meal?!"), we had arrived at the airport. I saw Franziska in the distance, next to Edgeworth. I'd give just about anything to trade places with him, just to be by her side. He didn't know what he had.

"Mr. Edgey! Miss Franzy!" Trucy ran up to them, and hugged Edgeworth's leg. He looked down at her awkwardly, and patted her on the head.

Me and Phoenix walked up to them a moment later, and Franziska was threatening the little girl with her whip.

"Ooh! Miss Franzy, can I try?"

"My name is NOT Franzy. And no, you'll get yourself killed."

"Please? Miss Franziska?" Franziska glanced at me.

"You're only allowed to hit him and your father." She handed Trucy the whip, and she immediately started whirling it around. Phoenix snatched it out of the air with one hand, causing the spinning Trucy to fall over.

"No weapons in the airport, Trucy."

"Then how come Miss Franziska gets to play with it?" she whined.

"She's a member of the police force, so she has special privileges."

"How can I get special privileges?" Trucy whined.

"Stop spinning weapons around," Franziska retorted. "Then you might have a chance."

"What's the point of having weapons if you can't use them?" she complained.

"Franziska, our plane is about to leave," Edgeworth interrupted. Trucy looked up at him, and glared evilly. She pulled off his cravat, and ran. Edgeworth and Phoenix followed, shouting.

"That foolish fool, foolishly raising a foolish fool of a foolish child," Franziska huffed. "Well, I am taking my seat on the plane." She turned and began walking away.

"Wait! Franziska!" I called, running up to her.

"What is it? I have a plane to catch." Her blue-gray eyes pierced through mine, and I knew there was only one thing that I could do.

"Forgive me."

"What? Wh-oomph!" I crashed my lips into hers, for a single moment. When she shoved me away, she began whipping me until I passed out. I probably deserved it.

I dreamed of her, of course.


	16. Apollo x Robin

Apollo really wanted to punch someone.

He'd woken up that morning to find out that all of his hair gel was gone, so he had to go to the store looking like a wreck just to get some more. There wasn't any left in the men's section, so he'd gone into the women's section, because he was REALLY desperate. Well, Klavier Gavin of all people had caught him walking out of the Women's section- _Don't Glimmerous Fops go buy their beauty supplies from famous salons?- _And he had been completely humiliated, since his hair was a wreck and he was holding women's hair products. He'd bought it, and gone into the bathroom to fix his hair, and accidentally went into the women's restroom… And he was caught by Gavin AGAIN. This time, it took five minutes of explaining to prove that he was male… But Gavin said that he needed "conclusive evidence" to prove that he was straight. He didn't have any, of course.

This incident had made him late for work, of course. When he got to the office, Trucy informed him that Athena and Phoenix had gone off on an investigation without him. Again. And that he was required to clean toilets. Again.

After the toilet was sparkling, Trucy forced him to help her with a magic trick that she was working on. Apollo refused, of course. The last time he'd dared to help her, he'd almost been sawed in two. She proceeded to spray him with a water bottle, which had caused his hair to flop. Again.

He then realized that Trucy was supposed to be in school. Trucy claimed to have forgotten about it. He dragged her all the way down to the high school and apologized to the school secretary, who gave him a strange look and told him it was a Saturday. Trucy had mocked him for a full fifteen minutes. It was then that he bumped into Gavin, who proceeded to explain Apollo's sexuality to Trucy, who ate up every word. The whole way home was filled with comments of "It's ok, Polly! You have to be real about your feelings, or you'll never get a boyfriend! Ooh, I know the perfect guy for you!"

When he got back to the office, Athena and Phoenix were sitting at a table, trying to figure out a hard case. When he'd offered suggestions, they had replied with "we already tried that, and it didn't work" and "you don't understand the crime scene".

He'd left the office without a word. Nobody probably suspected that there was anything wrong. Now, he was sitting under a tree at People Park, watching little kids run around and throw Frisbees. Suddenly, one came hurdling towards him and crashed into his forehead. A little boy ran over.

"Mister, you're supposed to catch the Frisbee!" He took the Frisbee, stuck out his tongue, and ran away.

_Can't one person on Earth treat me like a human being?!_

He saw a familiar face walking through the park, and he picked up a nearby newspaper in order to shield his face. He did NOT need anyone else to make his day worse.

Of course, the newspaper had been used to pick up dog poop… And it had fallen down onto his pant leg. _Can this day get any worse?! _

When the familiar person began walking up to him, he was absolutely positive that it could. He quickly scooped the poop off his leg, and luckily, it didn't leave a mark. _I guess that's one point in my favor. _

"Hey, maaan!" Robin grinned at him from a distance.

"Hi."

"Are you ok?" She frowned.

"I've had a really long day."

"Did something bad happen?"

"You make it sound like there was only one bad thing," he mumbled. She looked at me suspiciously.

"Here, come with me."

"I'd really rather not."

"Come on! It'll be F-U-N!"

"What are you making me do?"

"You'll see! It's nothing bad, pinky swear!" She leaned down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up, only to begin dragging him across the park. Apollo reluctantly followed.

"Are we going to Themis?" he asked. He knew that the school was within walking distance.

"Aw, darn! Yep, you're right. I bet you can't guess W-E-R-E in Themis, though!"

"That spells 'were', not 'where'."

"Hey, I'm not in school for spelling." She let go of his wrist, and he proceeded to follow her. He didn't want her to yell until his ears fell off, after all. It wasn't long until they got to the high school. They approached a familiar building.

"Isn't that the art room?"

"Yep!"

"I don't really want to make pottery."

"That's not what we're doing." They entered the building, and climbed up an unreasonable amount of stairs. Once we got into the art room, there were clay pots EVERYWHERE.

"Why are there so many pots?"

"I was teaching some freshmen how to make pots. These are all the ones that turned out B-A-D."

"They all look pretty good to me." She sighed, and looked at him sympathetically.

"I was told to get rid of all of these pots."

"How? I hope you aren't expecting me to help you carry all of these downstairs." She grinned.

"I'll be right back." She wagged her finger and ran down the stairs. He picked up a pot curiously. It really looked fine to him. He noticed a crack in one, and another one had an obvious dent, but the others looked fine. He felt bad for the poor freshmen… Robin probably examined each pot with a microscope.

He looked up at the clock, trying to figure out what time it was. _It says 4:23… Wait. Wasn't this clock broken?_

He stared at the door. How long had she been gone? Maybe she'd been murdered, and he might get to do a trial with Trucy. As much as he hated to admit it, he really missed her help with investigations. He didn't really want Robin to die, though.

She finally busted back through the door, smiling.

"Where were you?"

"Look out the window!"

Apollo walked over to the window and found a giant dumpster three floors down on the ground. He blinked a few times. _Have I ever mentioned how much I hate heights?! _

Robin picked up a pot, and dropped it outside of the window. It fell to the ground and crashed inside of the dumpster. "Your turn!"

"Are you sure we can just break these?"

"Of course I'm sure! Plus, I'd be the one to get in trouble, not you, if we couldn't," she replied. Apollo shrugged, and picked up a pot. He walked over to the window, and dropped it. It shattered. It actually felt pretty good. "Isn't that fun?"

"Yeah, kind of," he admitted.

"Whenever I have a bad day, I just come here, yell out what makes me mad, and smash a pot." She picked up a pot, and threw it out the window. "PROFESSOR MEANS!" Apollo laughed, and picked up a pot.

"Hair gel!"

"Come on, you have to shout louder."

"PROSECUTOR GAVIN!" he threw a pot with spectacular force.

"Yeah, like that!"

"MURDER CASES!"

After a while, Apollo had yelled all of his problems out a window, leaving only a few pots.

"Feel better?"

"I do," he laughed. "You were right, that was actually pretty fun." He looked out the window at the large amount of pottery in the dumpster. "Do you have any problems to shout to the world?"

"Not any important ones," she replied.

"Hair gel hardly counts as important," he pointed out.

"I guess there's one," she admitted.

"Come on, get it out," he laughed. "It's F-U-N."

"Are you mocking me?" She grinned, and flicked one of his antennae. "You can't shout all of your problems to the world, you know. It's embarrassing."

"I guess. You can tell me, though." He smiled.

"There's a guy I've liked for a while, but I know he'll never like me back."

"It isn't Hugh, is it?"

"What?! NO!" she shouted. "Come on, maaaaan! That would ruin our amazing friendship!"

"Then who?"

"It's kind of awkward," she admitted.

"Why, are they weird or something?" He thought for a moment. "Gosh, is it Prosecutor Gavin?"

"Nope! The guy I'm thinking of is much cuter."

"According to Trucy, that's impossible."

"I'm not Trucy." She smiled.

"Do I know him?"

"Y-E-S."

"That leaves… Phoenix… And Professor Means?"

"Hey, maaaan! What kind of creep do you think I am?!" Her hands found their way on her hips and she pouted. _She's kind of cute when she does that. Wait. Did I just call her cute?! _

"I give up. I can't think of anyone else."

"No other guy?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Hee hee! I guess Prosecutor Gavin was right!"

"Right about what?!"

"You being a girl."

"I'm not a girl!" he shouted. "Wait… Does that mean that you like… Me?"

"I guess it does, huh?" She blushed slightly. I did too, but more than slightly.

"I… I never thought about it much, but I guess I like you, too," he admitted.

"Really?" she smiled, her eager brown eyes burning holes into mine.

"Y-E-S."

She raised up onto her tiptoes and pulled his face towards hers until their lips touched. It was only for a moment, but his heart still fluttered slightly. She returned to being shorter than him, and they both laughed for no explainable reason.

"I guess I have evidence that I'm straight now, huh?"

"I don't know, I'm about the most boyish girl you can possibly find," she laughed.

"Eh, I'll take it," he responded playfully.

He guessed there wasn't anyone who really treated him like a human being. Robin treated him as better than one.


	17. Maggey x Gumshoe

OMG THIS IS SO FREAKING CUTE AHHHH. And I wrote the story while eating ramen noodles, of course. What better way is there to get Gummy in character than to eat cheap noodles? XD

Enjoy! This is one of those stories that I write and I'm just really proud of. Ahhh my feels :D

(O)

I reached into my pocket and felt around, making sure that the small box was still there. My heart pounded with the thought of what the night would bring. I clumsily opened the box, which was too little for my large fingers. Inside was a silver ring with a shimmering diamond in it—it had cost me a lot of ramen noodles, but it was worth it.

Suddenly, my phone began ringing. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

_"Hey pal, it's Maggey! I was wondering when you where we were going to meet!" _My heart skipped a beat.

"I'll pick you up—It's a surprise, pal. I'll be at your place around 7."

_"A surprise? That sounds fun! I can't wait. Well, I've got to get going—I don't want to lose another job!"_

"You won't. Love you, pal."

_"Love you, too!"_

I couldn't wait.

(O)

I ended up getting to her apartment at 7:02, and I couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Sorry I'm late, pal!"

"Late? I've only been sitting out here for a couple of minutes."

"I know… I just don't want to leave you waiting, you know?"

"You're too nice to me," she laughed. I didn't see that as being possible, but I didn't protest. I invited her into our taxi, and nodded at the driver. I'd already told him where we were going so that he wouldn't ruin the surprise. One thing I loved about Maggey is that she thought of everyone as higher than their paycheck, and it was perfectly acceptable to take her in a smelly taxi to a date.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see where we're going! I didn't know what to wear… I hope this is ok."

"It's perfect," I replied. She was wearing a white sundress with a blue bow. She looked gorgeous, as always.

"Oh, I'm glad. Knowing my luck, I'd probably end up wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants to a fancy restaurant!" I laughed. She looked out the window. "Huh, I don't usually go down this road. I can't wait to figure out where you're taking me!"

"We're almost there. Hang in there, pal." The taxi turned off of the main road and down a familiar path.

"Oh! It's Gourd Lake!" Maggey pressed her face up to the window in excitement. "Are we going out on a boat ride?"

"Nope." _I don't think I'll be able to ride in a boat ever again, especially not one from that shack. _She looked at me with a curious, excited smile, like a little kid who was about to open up a birthday present. The taxi finally stopped, and I reluctantly handed the driver a $10. I helped Maggey out of the car, and I led her along the shore.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," I replied with a grin. Our ankles were lapped with cool lake water; it was good that we were both wearing sandals.

"Wow, look at the sunset!" Oranges and pinks streaked the sky in a brilliant display, but it was nothing compared to the beautiful look of joy on Maggey's face.

"It's nice, huh, pal?"

"Yeah," she breathed. We were approaching a cluster of trees. "Oh, are we going camping?"

"Close." I grinned. We walked a bit further, and then I led her on a path that weaved between the trees. We approached a blanket that I had set up earlier, next to a fire pit. The blanket had a basket on top.

"Woah… Did you do this?! It's amazing." She looked at me, clearly delighted. I leaned down to kiss her, and she responded to it eagerly.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it!" She ran over to the basket, and pulled out a blanket, some paper plates, plastic silverware, a lighter, some marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, and (of course) large weenies. "You got me weenies?" she laughed. I nodded, and walked over to the fire pit. I lifted up a tarp, and underneath was a pile of wood and newspaper. "Oh, can I light the fire?"

"Of course, if you want to." I handed her the lighter, and she lit a piece of the newspaper on fire.

"Ow!" she yanked away her hand. I'd forgotten to tell her that I'd covered the pile in lighter fluid earlier, which is why the entire pit had gone up in a bright display of flames.

"Are you all right?" I rushed over to her, and looked at the damage to her hand.

"Eh, I'm fine. Who would I be without my bad luck?" she asked with a smile.

"Not my Maggey, that's for sure." Once I was sure that she didn't have any serious injuries, I walked a distance and picked up two sticks. I handed one to her.

"Oh, are these to cook the weenies?"

"Yep, and the s'mores, too," I replied. She eagerly stuffed a weenie onto the end of her stick, and I did the same. Unfortunately, hers broke in two and fell in the fire.

"Aww, darn!"

"It's all right, pal. Do you want mine?"

"I can have it?"

"Of course." I took a plate, and stabbed the weenie with a fork, and handed her mine once I was done cooking it.

"Thanks, pal." She grinned at me, and proceeded to stuff her face like an adorable chipmunk. I began to cook my own, and once I'd finished, I sat next to her. "I think I'm going to try and cook my own again."

"You sure, pal?"

"I might as well try, right? After all, I'm not the goddess of misfortune anymore. I'm just an unlucky girl." She grinned, and I laughed.

"All right." I handed her a stick, and she impaled a weenie with it. She began cooking it over the fire, and the stick went up in flames. She shrieked, and brought it over to her face in an attempt to blow it out. I quickly stabbed the weenie with a fork and pulled it off so that she could throw it in the fire.

"Thanks. Again." She blushed in embarrassment, but I grinned.

"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for, pal." I wrapped my arm around her, and she laid against me and let out a sigh of contentment. She ate her weenie pretty quickly as I made myself a second one.

"Hey, you brought stuff for s'mores, didn't you, pal?"

"Yep. You can try cooking one if you want."

"I think I'll need a new stick." I pulled my weenie off of my stick and handed it to her.

"Nah, just take this one."

"Thanks." She stabbed a marshmallow with it, and waved it over the fire. It immediately burst into flames, of course. "Man, I think I might be a bit more than an unlucky girl after all."

"I just think you're bad with fire," I laughed. "Don't put the marshmallow in the flames. Cook it over the coals."

"Really? Ok, I'll try that." She began to cook a new marshmallow in this fashion, and it actually turned out halfway decent. "Here, you can have this one, since you made me the weenies."

"Thanks, pal!" I sandwiched it between two graham crackers and a few squares of chocolate. She cooked another decent marshmallow, and made a s'more for herself. "You know, I think you're my good luck charm." She smiled at me. Suddenly, a drop of water fell on her nose. "Oh no, it's raining!" She frowned. Sure enough, the night sky was dripping. "Just my luck, I guess."

"I have an idea." I walked over to the edge of the fire pit, and picked up the tarp. I sat back down next to Maggey and wrapped it around the two of us. It wasn't quite enough, so she sat in my lap, and we managed to shield ourselves from the rain.

"See? You're my good luck charm." She grinned. She leaned over and pulled the blanket out of the basket, and she draped it over her lap. The sky began to pour, but we stayed mostly dry, snacking on the salvaged marshmallows and chocolate. The graham crackers were soaked, and the two remaining weenies weren't cooked. "Thanks, pal. I don't know what I would do without you." She leaned over to kiss me, and I kissed back. Her body was warm against mine, and her lips cast out the cold that the rain had put in me.

"I don't know what I would do without you, either." I smiled. The rain finally stopped after a few minutes, and we stood up. The sky was completely dark, but I could see a few stars through the clouds, suggesting that the rain wouldn't come back. Despite this, I still felt cold now that Maggey had left my lap.

"So what should we do now? It's a little wet."

"We could walk back to my place, if you'd like. It's pretty close by."

"All right! Let's go, pal!" She grinned, and began to walk away.

"Hold it! I've got to pack up this stuff."

"Oh, right! Do you want some help?" She didn't let me answer that question before she began stuffing paper plates and blankets into the basket. I laughed, and handed her the tarp.

"Thanks."

"I've got to do something helpful once in a while." She grinned, packing the bag of marshmallows in the basket. They didn't really fit, but she made it work, sort of. She picked up the basket and began heading away from the shore.

"Hey, wrong way!" She turned a full 180 and began walking the right way. I laughed, and placed my hands in my pockets. I felt something hard inside. _Shoot! I completely forgot! _I had been hoping that a romantic opportunity would pop up, but I hadn't had a great time to drop on one knee.

"Hurry up, pal!" she called. I picked up my pace a bit. Maggey hadn't been quite sure what to call me- Her last boyfriend's murderer had been named Richard, so it didn't seem right. She couldn't call me by my nickname, either, because people glared at her when she said it. She called me "Gummy" occasionally, but it reminded me of Kay too much. Eventually she'd settled with "Pal"- and I'd say it worked fine.

"I'm coming!" I caught up to her just as we were approaching the shore. The lake was covered in a glittering, dense fog- But it looked pretty, rather than the perfect opportunity for a murder. We stopped, both breathtaken. The moon shone through the glittering mist, and the whole thing looked surreal. As she stared away from me, I realized this was my chance. I dropped on my knee, and lifted the lid of the box. She turned towards me.

"This is beaut-!" She stopped when she saw the box, and gasped.

"Will you marry me?" She stared at me for a few moments, registering what was going on.

"A-Are you sure you want to? I mean… That's like marrying to bad luck!"

"Maggey, I'm the luckiest man in the whole world to be here with you now. I'd like nothing more." A wide smile spread across her face.

"Then… Yes. Yes!" I slid the ring on her finger, and she fell to her knees and grabbed me around the neck, pulling me into a passionate kiss. I'd never felt so happy in my whole life than I did at that moment. I wrapped my arms around her and we sat there, just holding each other, for what felt like forever. I enjoyed every second, though.

Yeah, pal, I'm a pretty lucky man.


	18. Clay x Vera

I've risen from the dead! I actually passed all my exams, and I'm in summer mode now (I actually got all A's, except for that D in French… But that's ok I still got an A for the semester lol).

Well, sorry that I've been gone. Get used to it, though lol. I've got like 5 week-long camps this summer.

Well, Vera and Clay. Cool. This is so adorably awkward omg. (White Weasel, how did you get everyone to start shipping this?! I'm impressed.) Well, this'll take place after the Monstrous Turnabout, in summer. So enjoy! :D

(O)

I was sitting in the park nervously. I didn't like being outside much, although it was bearable now. Trucy had told me to meet her there with Apollo and some friends of his. I was a bit nervous to meet the stranger, but if they were anything like Apollo, it would be ok. I stared and watched little girls running around. I wondered if I would have been like that, if it weren't for the kidnapping incident.

"Hey, Vera!" I looked towards the voice to find a few familiar faces, and a few less familiar ones. I picked up my sketchbook and drew a smile.

"Hello." Trucy ran up to me and sat down on the bench with me. Apollo and the others followed, but at a normal pace.

"Hey, Vera," Apollo called as he approached me. Trucy sat next to me, and three faces were now staring at me at a close range. It was somewhat intimidating, but I tried to calm down. _These are Apollo's friends._

"Hey, I'm Athena!" A red-haired girl stuck out one hand towards me, and I gripped it nervously, trying to smile.

"Hello. I'm Vera."

"Aww, are you nervous? It's ok, I know Apollo's demon horns tend to do that to people." _Is it that easy to tell? _

"Hey!" Apollo softly hit her shoulder, and she laughed.

"My name's Clay." A black-haired boy looked at me cheerfully, and I held out my hand, trying to seem more confident. He shook it enthusiastically. "So, you're a painter?"

"Yes. Well, I do more than paint. I do all kinds of art."

"That's cool. I don't have an artistic bone in my body," he laughed.

"Yeah, if you ask him to draw a dog, it'll turn out looking like a camel," Apollo teased.

"Hey! It was a pretty good camel!" he protested. I laughed. "Hey, speaking of camels, I'm really thirsty."

"What do camels have to do with being thirsty?!" Apollo asked.

"They store the water in their humps, so that they don't have to drink much." Apollo snickered. "Can I just get a drink?"

"I can buy you one. What do you want?"

"A smoothie."

"Those are all the way on the other side of the park!" Apollo protested.

"I'll go with you," Athena butted in.

"All right, fine. I'll go." Apollo let out an exaggerated sigh, and began to walk away.

"Apollo? You forgot your wallet," I said. He sheepishly turned around to pick it up, and Athena laughed at him.

"Aww, Vera! I wanted to see how long it would take for him to remember," Clay laughed. _Oh no! Did I just ruin a joke? _

"It's all right, Vera. No harm done," Trucy said carefully. _Oh good. _

Once Apollo and Athena were out of earshot, Clay and Trucy looked at each other and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Those two are in love. It's so obvious!" Trucy laughed.

"Yeah. We've been trying to get them together in any way possible. I didn't really want a smoothie, I just wanted them to take a romantic walk through the park together," Clay added.

"We've even got Prosecutor Gavin in on it! And Daddy's helped a little too," Trucy laughed.

"You mean, you want them to be like boyfriend and girlfriend?" I asked.

"Yeah. They're soooo cute together!" Trucy sighed in contentment.

"What's the point of having a boyfriend, exactly?" I asked curiously. "They seem like a lot of work."

"They're amazing!" Trucy exclaimed. "At least I think. I haven't actually had one." Clay laughed.

"I have. It's not something you can explain, really. I guess it's nice to be able to tell them your deepest secrets, and they make your life exciting, I guess."

"And they kiss you!" Trucy added.

"And they kiss you," Clay confirmed.

"But you can tell your friends your deepest secrets, can't you? And I don't think I want my life to be any more exciting. And I don't understand kissing, either. I don't want to taste anyone's spit," I commented.

"It seems weird until you're the one doing it," Clay explained.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked.

"Not right now."

"Why not? What do you have to do to get one?"

"You just ask, and they'll say yes or no. I haven't liked anyone romantically in a while."

"If it's that easy, why isn't Athena Apollo's girlfriend yet?"

"Because Apollo's terrible with girls," Clay laughed. Trucy joined in.

"But how would you get someone to say yes?" I asked curiously.

"Why? Do you want a boyfriend?" Trucy asked.

"I think I'd like to try it, since everyone thinks it's great," I replied.

"Well, it helps that you're cute," Clay said. "You just have to ask. Some will say yes, and some will say no."

"What if they try to kiss me? What do I do?"

"Kiss them back," Clay answered.

"How?"

"You'll know it. It's a sort of instinct," Clay replied.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" I asked him. Trucy gasped, and Clay blushed a little. _Did I ask wrong? _

"S-sure," he replied, his mouth widening into a grin.

"Are you going to kiss me?" I asked. Trucy grinned.

"Sure." He moved his face to be closer to mine, and I tried as hard as I could not to move away. His lips met mine, and my heart started racing. I kissed back clumsily, and we broke apart after a few seconds.

"I think I know why people like boyfriends," I breathed, looking into his intense brown eyes. He grinned.

"Oh! Guys! They're coming!" Trucy called. Clay turned away from me, and I felt cold somehow, even though the summer air was very warm.

"I got your dumb smoothie," Apollo complained.

"What flavor?"

"Pina Colada," he replied.

"Aww, but I wanted strawberry!" Clay moaned.

"Can I have the Pina Colada one? It sounds tasty," I added. I wanted Athena and Apollo to go away again.

"Are you serious?!" Apollo groaned.

"Polly, I want a smoothie too!" Trucy added. "A strawberry one."

"Come on Apollo, I guess we have to go back," Athena told him.

"Can't they get them by themselves?" he complained.

"Yeah, I guess the three of us could go to the smoothie stand," Clay agreed. Trucy grinned.

"All right. Come on Vera, let's get smoothies." I nodded, and stood up.

"Wait, why is Vera going? She was going to have the Pina Colada one."

"Because she likes me more than you," Trucy retorted. "Come on, Vera."

"Ok." I followed Clay and Trucy as they left for the edge of the park.

"OBJECTION!" Apollo called. "That's not true!"


	19. Thalassa x Phoenix

Sorry… I haven't updated in forever, it feels like. So many obscure couples. And then there's one that I'm waiting for that isn't obscure at all… (At least not in my mind).

This is a little confusing at points, but it's a whole lot more like typical conversations. You know, half sentences, thinking in your head, ect.

Ehehe, my favorite Phoenix ship. Obscure, yes. Great, yes. Thalassa/Phoenix for the win! :D

(O)

I'd gone over to the Wright Anything Agency every so often since Phoenix and I started dating a few months ago. I hadn't gotten to return to the United States for about a year due to some problems with Machi's crimes in Borginia. I was trying to avoid my children as much as I could, as they could both detect lies, and I had a lot of secrets to keep. Now, Apollo and… Artemis, was it? were off on some crazy case, and Phoenix had nothing better to do, so I stopped by to say hello.

"You've already figured it out, haven't you?" I asked him.

"Their case? Yeah. But I'll let them have their fun." I smiled at Phoenix as I cuddled up next to him on the couch. He put one arm around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Are they on the right track?"

"Not even close. I need to think of a way to word my hint that will annoy them as much as possible," he laughed.

"You're a terrible boss sometimes."

"Eh, it's more fun this way." He leaned over to kiss me for a moment, and I responded modestly.

"My bracelet's been tightening almost every time Apollo opens his mouth," I murmured.

"It's the six month anniversary of his best friend's death tomorrow. And considering that he says 'I'm fine' in almost every sentence, I'm not surprised."

"I feel bad for him. I know what it's like to feel alone." I looked up and met Phoenix's eyes. "Although it hasn't been much of a problem recently." He leaned in to kiss me again, and I responded more eagerly than I had the last time. When we broke apart, he hummed for a moment.

"It must be hard for him. Maybe I'll be less cryptic with my hint later. But only a little." He grinned. "But he has spent a lot of time feeling alone."

"We should tell him about me. Both of them."

"At the end of this case. Apollo won't be able to think for a while after you give him the news."

"Will he be angry?"

"I don't know, maybe. Trucy will be excited, though. She gave up on having a mother a long time ago."

"I didn't abandon her at an orphanage, though."

"You didn't want to. You had to."

"Will he understand that?"

"If he believes that you're telling the truth, I think he will."

"It's a strange atmosphere around here. There is no deceit, no lying."

"It's because if anyone lies, they're found out immediately and interrogated," he laughed.

"I like it."

"Yeah, but sometimes it's a good thing for someone to ask how your day was without being pried for information on why you lied about it being 'pretty good'," he retorted. I laughed. "Or why I feel sad when I say that you're part of the family now." We paused for a moment.

"Yes. She interrogated me on why I was sad about my relationship with Apollo. I think she's suspicious of me."

"Who, Athena?" _Oh, that's her name. _

"Yes."

"The truth will come out soon."

"Won't they be upset that we didn't tell them earlier?"

"What, that you're part of the family? I don't think so. It's not like you've been around them much."

"How are we going to tell them?"

"Well, we'll just have to tell Trucy that she has a mommy now. That won't be too difficul-" He was interrupted as the door to the agency swung open.

"You're getting married?!" A magician stood in the doorway, mouth open wide.

"Hmm? Trucy, what have I told you about eavesdropping?" Phoenix scolded.

"That I'm not supposed to tell the person that I heard them," she mumbled. "But this is big news! You're getting married!"

"I don't believe I said that. I don't think we've been together long enough for that," I told her.

"But I just heard you guys saying that you were going to be my mommy now!" Trucy grinned. "Can I see the ring?"

"Trucy, we aren't getting married. We were talking about the future," Phoenix replied. "If we chose that later on."

"Hehe, your eyebrow twitched just now. You're lying! You just want it to be a secret!" She grinned. "Is there gonna be a surprise party?! I can do magic tricks!"

"Trucy, we aren't getting married," I told her. "Not yet, anyways."

"Then why was Daddy lying?" She scrutinized me, trying to find a nervous tic, I'd bet.

"Should we tell her?" I asked Phoenix.

"I think it's time," he replied.

"Trucy," I began, "You can't tell anyone this until we sit down and talk with Apollo, all right?"

"You're engaged! I knew it!"

"Trucy, we're not engaged. Do you promise not to tell him?"

"Why Apollo? Why not Athena, too?"

"I'll tell you that in a minute. Do you promise?"

"How long am I gonna have to keep it a secret?"

"Until Apollo and Athena finish their case."

"Ok, I think I can last that long." She grinned. "So what's this giant secret?"

"Trucy…" I didn't know how to say it. "Do you remember your mother?"

"Yeah. She was really nice. I cried for a long time after she died." I felt a pang in my heart.

"Trucy… She never died."

"What?! Of course she did! Everyone was crying and everything!"

"Did you ever see her body?"

"…No."

"I… Know your mother very well. She lost her memory, and came to live in Borginia."

"Wait. If she lost her memory, then how do you know that she's my mom?"

"She got it back, very recently."

"Why didn't anybody tell me?!"

"Your father believed that she was dead, too, and your grandfather wanted to keep the ordeal a secret."

"Why would he do that?" Trucy looked up at me inquisitively. "Wait… I think I know. Daddy… Was blackmailed a lot by his daddy. Did he pretend that my mommy was dead so that he could manipulate him?" _Her mix of words is definitely unique. _

"Yes… You're a smart girl."

"Hehe." She hit her hat and stuck out her tongue. _I have to wonder who taught her that. _"So wait… Do I get to meet my mommy? Since she got her memory back?" She stared at me for a few seconds, and then gasped. "Wait. Are y-you…?"

"Yes."

"Mommy!" Trucy ran towards me and squeezed my waist. I laughed, joy filling my heart. I loved her more than words could express. I wrapped my arms gently around her, and I could feel tears falling from my eyes. After about a minute, Trucy looked up with a sweet grin. "I still think you and Daddy should get married. Then I can have siblings!"

"You've already got one." Phoenix smiled from across the couch.

"No way. Mommy, are you pregnant?!" Trucy gasped. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"N-no. I assure you, I am not-"

"It's a brother," Phoenix interrupted. I shot him a blank stare, and he laughed.

"Trucy… Will you sit down? I need to explain-"

"Seriously, Mommy? I know how babies were made. Daddy explained it to me, and he-"

"Trucy, we don't need to tell that story," Phoenix interrupted.

"I'm not talking about how babies are made, Trucy. I'm talking about your older brother."

"O-older?! How long have you two been dating?!"

"N-no, not like that!" I could feel my face growing more and more red. "Your real daddy was my second husband."

"Woah! Wait, did you get a divorce?"

"No, my first husband died."

"And you had kids?"

"I had one son with him."

"Wait, why haven't I met him, then? What happened to him?"

"I… I put him up for adoption."

"What?! Why?"

"Your grandfather wouldn't let me join the troupe again unless I disposed of anything from my life outside of it… Including my son."

"That's terrible!"

"I didn't want to give him up. It was the worst decision that I ever made."

"I wish I could meet him… But I guess you don't know where he is, huh?"

"Trucy, you've already met him," Phoenix interrupted.

"Huh?! Who?! How?!"

"Actually, I took special measures to make sure that I could find him again. I gave him one of my bracelets, and a unique name."

"A guy who wears jewelry?" She paused for a moment. "No way. Am I Klavier Gavin's little sister?!" Phoenix burst out laughing.

"You've only got one brother, Trucy. You aren't related to Kristoph. Guess again," he said.

"I don't know. Klavier has a pretty unique name, and he wears jewelry. Who?"

"I named my son Apollo." She gasped.

"Eww, I'm related to him? Aww!" she laughed.

"See? They're siblings already," Phoenix chuckled.

"Oh, so _that's _why I had to keep it a secret from Polly."

"Yes."

"He'll be really happy to meet his mommy."

"Really? The two of us were sort of expecting him to be mad," Phoenix replied.

"We were talking about our parents, since neither of us had any. He said that it's been a dream of his to meet his parents, even if they abandoned him. I said that I wished that I could see my parents again, because mine were dead. He felt pretty bad about that, but I guess I really did get to meet my mommy again, huh?"

"I didn't realize that you and Apollo were capable of talking about such deep topics together," Phoenix laughed.

"We do that sometimes. Huh. We're like a big family now. Well, except Athena. She was left out of it." She frowned. "Oh! Maybe Polly and Athena can get married, and I can be an aunt, and-"

"You're just like Pearls," Phoenix groaned. "You can't force marriage, Trucy."

"Nothing a little magic can't do!" She tipped her hat, and headed towards the door. "Bye mommy! Bye daddy! Enjoy your time alone!" _Is she going to try and do some matchmaking?_

"Trucy, you've figured out their case, haven't you?"

"I'm pretty close. Jackson's the killer, right? I just don't know how he managed to drown her and tie the body to the bottom of a public pool. Wouldn't someone have noticed?"

"You're thinking about it in the wrong way. The question isn't why nobody noticed, the question is why nobody _could _notice."

"There's a ten minute break every hour, right? But everyone's so bored that they just stare at the pool." She thought for a moment. "Oh, but where the body was found, there was a wall that would block it, right? Only the lifeguard could've seen them. Oh! Was the lifeguard an accomplice?"

"Bingo."

"Yes! Thanks daddy!"

"Hey, what are you planning on telling them? Last time I checked, they thought that the lifeguard was the killer."

"But she was wearing a bunch of sunscreen! She was too slippery to hold someone underwater. Plus, someone would have noticed if she left her post."

"Right. They were suspicious of her because Apollo's bracelet was reacting when they talked to her."

"Huh. I'll probably make some comment about how it's too hot outside to not wear sunscreen. Maybe I can grab Polly's arm while I'm wearing him, and complain about being slippery."

"That's my girl," he laughed. "Don't go too crazy with the matchmaking today, all right? The defendant's a friend of mine, and I don't want him getting a guilty verdict."

"Yeah, it's pretty fun when he comes over. With a last name like Butz, you've got to be cool."

"Larry's about as cool as that lifeguard would be if she hadn't been wearing sunscreen."

"Fine. Do you know who's holding the evidence bag?"

"I think it's Athena, since Apollo wasn't wearing his backpack when he left."

"Oh yeah, the ugly one. So I can push Polly in the pool?"

"As long as you're positive that he doesn't have anything important in his pockets. And you get it on video."

"You've got to be a great pickpocket to do some of my magic tricks. There won't be a lint ball in his pockets!"

"That's my girl. Bug them for me, all right? I'll probably stop by later."

"All right! Bye Daddy! Oh, and Mommy!" She grinned, and raced out the door.

"I'm a terrible influence on her," Phoenix commented.

"You're a terrible influence on me."

"It's more fun this way."

"I agree." I snuggled up closer to him, and kissed him. I ran my hand through his soft, spiky hair. Our lips parted, and I stared into his eyes for a moment.

"She did say one thing that made sense, though."

"Oh? About the case?"

"Haha, no. The lifeguard was definitely the killer. Nobody puts sunscreen on their palms, and definitely not a lifeguard," he replied with a smirk. I laughed.

"You're terrible. So what made sense?"

"The bit about us getting married." My heart began to beat harder, and I smiled.

"That did make sense. We've dated for a while, after all." He slid off the couch, and dropped on one knee. He pulled a small black box from his pocket, and opened it to reveal a beautiful ring.

"Will you marry me?" I gasped.

"Yes." He had barely put the ring on my finger before my lips crashed into his hard enough for him to lightly hit his head on the coffee table behind him. Our lips parted, and I stared into his smiling eyes. "What are we going to tell them?"

"They'll figure out that their family tree is looking less and less like a tree at some point."

"You're terrible."

"It's more fun this way." I sealed that agreement with a kiss.


	20. Cody x Juniper

This chapter is breaking through the hiatus because it is perfection.

So me and Acefangirl were talking. If Justicykes became canon, what would Juniper do? We would need to find another guy for her before Athena could date Apollo without feeling bad. So I was looking up guys her age on the wiki… And this is our reaction to the ship:

OH MY GOSH STOP BEING A GENIUS MY UNWORTHY MORTAL BRAIN CANNOT TAKE IT!

YESSSSSSSSSSS OMG OMG OMG

YES THIS IS PERFECT. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.

So. How do you all feel about Juniper/Cody?

(O)

Well, while trying to decide what to do with my life, I knew one thing for sure.

I was going to be a photographer.

I didn't want to take pictures of mountains and stuff, I wanted to take pictures of heroes… Like the Steel Samurai, of course. But I learned a few years ago that there are other kinds of heroes, the kind that you don't have to pretend exist. The kind that saved the Steel Samurai and defended Justice… Like that Felix Right guy.

So this is how I ended up going to Themis. I heard there was a group of law related photographers that was becoming popular, and I thought it would be cool to take pictures of crime scenes and stuff. I managed to convince my parents to let me switch high schools before my senior year could end.

"Hey, the name's Myriam Scuttlebutt."

And now I was standing in front of a talking box.

"Hey. Why are you wearing a box?"

"I've got boxes for all three of you! If you want to have a good scoop, you have to be undercover!"

"But why a cardboard box?"

"I tried being a trash can once… I stopped after I had sour milk poured all over my head."

"But everyone knows that you hide in a cardboard box, right? Isn't everyone going to be suspicious?"

"Hey, if you want to insult my box, you can find a better way to disguise yourself."

"All right, I will."

"For the smarter two of you, I've got your boxes back by the art room. Cody, you can go ahead and try and get a good scoop. Good luck- you're going to need it without MY expertise."

"Sure, whatever." I walked away with my camera, wondering what exactly I should take pictures of. I mean, the school wasn't all that interesting.

I wandered around for a while, finding nothing of interest. I was starting to regret not taking the lady's stupid box… After all, she knew where the best places where to find good scoops.

"HEY, MAAAAAN!" some stranger called.

"You're five feet in front of me. You don't have to yell."

"Sorry! I'm a little L-O-U-D. Are you one of the new members of Myriam's club?"

"Uh, yeah. What's it to you?"

"I know a great place to get a S-C-O-O-P."

"Really? Where?"

"Well, there's a meeting in the Lecture Hall to recruit freshmen for next year, and at the end, Juniper's going to S-I-N-G!"

"Who's Juniper?"

"You don't know Junie?" she gasped. "She's the student body president!"

"Good to know. I'll go to the lecture hall, then." _If I can figure out where it is. _

"Wait, what was your name?"

"Cody. And yours?"

"Robin! I'll see you around, then!" She winked and walked away.

"Man she's creepy," I muttered. I headed towards the biggest building within sight, and hoped that there would be a sign somewhere to point me to the lecture hall. There was, to my luck. Not just one… There were decorated arrows telling freshman to walk THIS WAY and THAT WAY and UPSTAIRS and all over the place. I eventually found the giant room I was looking for. There were a bunch of little 8th graders and a girl up on the stage. A pretty hot one, too. If she was the Pink Princess, she wouldn't have had to wear a mask, that's for sure. I sat down and pulled out my camera, and zoomed in as far as I could. The more I zoomed in, the prettier she looked. I could feel myself blushing, so I turned my camera to catch the reactions of the middle schoolers.

"As you all probably know, Themis is well known for the arts as well. We have a blooming art department, as well as a music department. To conclude our meeting here, I will be representing the music department and singing for you all. I hope you enjoy the Guitar's Serenade.

A recorded version of the well known song filled the room, and Juniper began to sing after a few moments.

"Sugar, Sugar… Oh that night in your embrace…" As she began to sing, sighs of pleasure filled the room. Her voice wasn't just good- If Global Studios had her fill in for the Pink Princess, the Jammin' Ninja wouldn't have been any kind of a competitor for the Nickel Samurai.

When she finished, the room filled with applause. She smiled slightly and stepped down from the stage as the eighth graders began to talk amongst themselves. Before she could leave, I lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"That was amazing!"

"Thank you," she replied softly. She looked down at my camera. "Are you one of Myriam's recruits?"

"Sort of," I mumbled. She laughed.

"You didn't want to wear a box, I'd assume?"

"It's dumb! Everyone around here knows to avoid boxes. Since nobody knows me, it's easier for me to just stand out in the open."

"Athena tried telling her that… She didn't listen." Juniper smiled at me. I wondered for the briefest of moments how she would look in a Pink Princess costume.

"Who's Athena?"

"Oh, she's a friend of mine. She's a lawyer at the Wright Anything Agency."

"Wright?! Like Felix Wright?!"

"Uh, Phoenix."

"Woah! I know him!"

"You do?" She looked shocked. "How?"

"I was a witness in one of his first trials ever!"

"I'd bet he remembers you. He remembers all of his cases. One time I went over there and I listened to him tell stories from the glory days," she laughed. "Apollo already knew a lot about it, but me and Athena didn't. It was really funny. He cross examined a parrot once!"

"Who's Apollo? Is he another lawyer?"

"Yes," she sighed, blushing slightly. "He defended me before… Twice. He's the kindest guy I've ever met…" She trailed off. _Aww, she likes someone else. Maybe I can change that. _

"I forget where the Wright Anything Agency is. Do you think you could show me over there, so that I could see Mr. Wright again?"

"Of course! I don't have any classes today, so we can go now if you like."

"Awesome!" I grinned, itching my nose.

"It's actually pretty close by… Would you mind walking?"

"No! Er… That's fine by me."

"All right, let's go." She led me out of the building and off of campus, and we finally headed towards the agency place. I wanted to walk as slow as possible without making my motives too obvious, and she didn't seem to mind the slower pace. "I wonder if they're off on a case right now. It would be sort of awkward to get there and have nobody be there."

"Yeah." _Please, everyone be gone! _

"Well, usually at least one of them is at the office… Along with Trucy."

"Who's Trucy?"

"Oh, she's Mr. Wright's daughter. She's really sweet… She's just two years younger than me." I opened my mouth to protest, and she interrupted me. "She's adopted."

"Ohhh."

"Yeah." She looked up at the sunny sky. "It's really beautiful outside. I'm glad I get to enjoy it."

"It is pretty nice, huh?" I looked up at the puffy white clouds. One of them looked like the Iron infant, but I didn't say that out loud. _Fanboys aren't attractive unless the girl's in your fandom._

Suddenly, Juniper screamed. I whipped around to find a guy holding her at knifepoint. I gasped.

"Give me your money, or I'll kill the girl."

"I-I don't have money!"

"Oh, really? What about that nice camera you've got there? That looks like it's worth something."

"O-Ok! You can have it! Just let her go!" I reluctantly held out my precious camera, and the man snatched it up in his hand, before proceeding to run away.

"I'm so sorry," she gasped. "Thank- Thank you for saving me."

"Wait just a sec." She gasped as I took off running after the guy. He was NOT going to get away with this. He was pretty slow, so I caught up to him pretty easy. I kicked him hard in the calf, and he fell over backwards. My camera landed on his chest, and I yanked it off of him. I walked away, but I felt him grab my arm. His fist came flying towards my face, and I ducked. I ripped my arm free and faced him. He was a lot taller than me, but he was also really slow. He tried to grab me and I jumped back, causing him to trip. I jumped and shot my leg out like the Steel Samurai always did, and my foot kicked him hard- right between the legs. He yelped and fell on the sidewalk, and I walked proudly back to Juniper, who was coughing madly.

"Oh my goodness! Are you ok?" She choked out between coughs. She pulled a sunflower from her hair and breathed it in, and her coughing stopped.

"Yeah, but he isn't." I grinned.

"Th-thank you. I'm glad your camera's ok. You… You looked like the hero in a show that Trucy made me watch."

"The Steel Samurai?"

"Oh, you've heard of it?" She smiled. "He's so brave and strong…"

"And he always wins," I finished with a grin.

"But he never fully defeats the enemy," she laughed, pointing at the man behind us who was now running for the hills.

"You remind me of the Pink Princess- brave, kind, and attractive," I replied. She blushed.

"You forgot one thing about the Steel Samurai, though."

"He gets the hottest girls?" She coughed a couple of times, clearly surprised.

"Yes." She leaned forwards to peck me on the cheek, and I grinned, blushing madly. "Thank you."

"Can I get a picture of the two of us? I need a good scoop, or I'll have to wear a box." She giggled.

"Of course." I looped my camera strap around a sign on a nearby pole, and set the timer to twenty seconds. We stood in front of it, smiling happily. It beeped to signify the last five seconds, and Juniper leaned over to meet my lips at the last second. By the time the picture was taken, our arms were wrapped around each other in a heated kiss. We broke apart a few seconds later. "I want to see it," she whispered.

We walked over to the camera, and I blushed. "The lens cap was on… Can we do that again?"

"I wouldn't mind at all."

This time, I set my camera for a full minute, and we kissed the whole time.


End file.
